M
iw^"'
p
/
^
A DISCOtJRSE
mmm^^^^a
CtUIKTNKSS OF SPIKIT.
* A meok and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great pricew"
1 P-pter, 3:4.
4 ^ O ^
BV REV.
THEW HENHY.
PUBLISHED :
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETT;
150 NISSAU-STRBET, NEW-TORK.
D. Fft&Abaw Printer.
In this edition a few passages are omitted, and the
phraseology in some instances modernized.
>'^T
COXTTSXTTS.
Page.
Chap. I. The Nature of Meekness, 5
Cluietness of Spirit, 32
Chap. II. The Excellency of Meekness, 40
<Chap. III. Want of Meekness lamented, 78
Chap. IV: ENCOURAGEMENTS TO MEEKNESS
— Scripture Precepts, 88
Chap. V. Scripture Patterns, 99
Chap. VI. When Meekness is specially required, 118
Chap. VII. Arguments for Meekness, 133
Chap. VIII. Some Rules of Direction, . 145
Digitized by tine Internet Archive
in 2008 witii funding from
IVIicrosoft Corporation
http://www.arcliive.org/details/discourseonmeeknOOhenrricli
O N MmrKN ESS.
CHAPTER T.
THE NATURE OF MEEKNESS AND QUIETNESS OF
SPIRIT.
Meekness is easiness of spirit ; not a sinful easi-
ness to be debauched, as Ephraim's, who willingly
walked after the commandment of the idolatrous
princes ; nor a simple easiness to be imposed upon
and deceived, as Rehoboam's, who, when he was
forty years old, is said to be young and tender-
hearted ; but a gracious easiness to be wrought
upon by that which is good, as theirs whose heart
of stone is taken away, and to whom a heart of flesh
is given. Meekness accommodates the soul to every
occurrence, and so makes a man easy to himself,
and to all about him. The Latins call a meek man
■mansuetus, which alludes to the taming and reclaim-
ing of creatures wild by nature, and bringing them
to be tractabl'e and familiar. James, 3: 7, 8. Man's
corrupt nature has made him like the wild ass used
I*
HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
to the wilderness, or the swift dromedary traversing
her ways. Jer. 2 : 23, 24. But the grace of meek-
ness, when that gets dominion in the soul, alters the
temper of it, submits it to management ; and now the
wolf dwells with the lamb, and the leopard lies down
with the kid, and a little child may lead them ; for
enmities are laid aside, and there is nothing to hurt
or destroy. Isa. 1 1 : 6, 9.
Meekness may be considered with respect both io
God and to our brethren ; it belongs to both the ta-
bles of the law, and attends upon the first great com-
mandment, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God ; as
well as the second, which is like unto it. Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself; though its especial re-
ference is to the latter.
I. There is meekness toward God, and it is
the easy and quiet submission of the soul to his
whole will, according as he is pleased to make it
known, whether by. his word or by his providence.
1. It is the silent submission of the soul io the word
of God : the understanding bowed to every divine
truth, and the will to every divine precept; and both
without murmuring or disputing. The word is then
an " engrafted word," when it is received with meek-
ness, that is, with a sincere willingness to be taught,
and desire to learn. Meekness is a grace that cleaves
the stock, and holds it open, that the word, as a shoot,
may be grafted in ; it breaks up the fallow ground,
and makes it fit to receive the seed ; captivates the
ITS NATURE. * /
high thoughts, and lays the soul like white paper
under God's pen. When the day-spring takes hold
of the ends of the earth, it is said to be turned as clay
to the seal. Job, 38 : 14. Meekness does, in like
manner, dispose the soul to admit the rays of divine
light, which before it rebelled against ; it opens the
heart, as Lydia's was opened ; and sets us down with
Mary at the feet of Christ, the learner's place and
posture.
The promise of teaching is made to the meek, be-
cause they are disposed to learn : " the meek will he
teach his way." The word of God is gospel indeed,
" good tidings to the meek ;" they will entertain it
and bid it welcome. The " poor in spirit " are evan
gelized ; and Wisdom's alms are given to those that
Avith meekness wait daily at her gates, and like beg-
gars wait at the posts of her doors. Prov. 8 : 34.
The language of this meekness is that of the child
Samuel, ♦' Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth ;"
and that of Joshua, who, when he was in that high
post of honor, giving command to Israel, and bid-
ding defiance to all their enemies, (his breast filled
with great and bold thoughts,) yet, upon the intima-
tion of a message from heaven, thus submits himself
to it : " What saith my Lord unto his servant ?" and
that of Paul, (and it was the first breath of the new
man,) " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" and
that of Cornelius, ♦' And now we are all here present
before God, to bear all things that are commanded
Q HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
thee of God;" and that of the good man I have
read of, who, when he was going to hear the w^ord,
used to say, " Now let the word of the Lord come ;
and if I had six hundred necks, I would bow them
all to the authority of it." To receive the w^ord with
meekness, is to be delivered into it, as into a mould :
this seems to be Paul's metaphor, Rom. 6:17, that
" form of doctrine which was delivered you." Meek-
ness softens the wax, that it may receive the impres-
sion of the seal, whether it be for doctrine or reproof,
for correction or instruction in righteousness. It
opens the ear to discipline, silences objections, and
suppresses the risings of the carnal mind against the
word ; consenting to the law that it is good,* and es-
teeming all the precepts concerning all things to be
right, even when they give the greatest check to
flesh and blood.
2. It is the silent submission of the soul to the
'providence of God, for that also is the will of God
concerning us.
(1.) When the events of Providence are grievous
and afflictive, displeasing to sense and crossing our
secular interests, meekness not only quiets us under
them, but reconciles us to them ; and enables us not
* True meekness will prevent ns from opposing either
the obvious parts of Scripture, severely as they may task,
our vices, or the mysterious parts, in reading which, vanity
may suggest that we could have dictated what is more pro-
(fitable. — Avgusline.
ITS NATURE.
only to bear, but to receive evil as well as good at
the hand of the Lord ; which is the excellent frame
that Job argues himself into: it is to kiss the rod,
and even to accept of the punishment of our iniquity,
taking all in good part that God does ; not daring
to strive with our Maker, no, nor desiring to pre-
scribe to him, but being dumb, and not opening the
mouth, because God does it. How meek was Aaron
under the severe dispensation which took away his
sons with a particular mark of divine wrath ! He
'• held his peace." God was sanctified, and there-
fore Aaron was satisfied, and had not a word to say
against it. Unlike to this was the temper, or rather
the distemper of David, who was not like a man af-
ter God's own heart, when he was displeased be-
cause the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah, as
if God must have asked David leave thus to assert
the honor of his ark. When God's anger is kindled,
ours must be stifled ; such is the law of meekness,
that whatsoever pleases God must not displease us.
David was in a better frame when he penned the
56th Psalm, the title of which, some think, bespeaks
the calmness and submissiveness of his spirit when
the Philistines took him in Gath. It is entitled. The
silent dove afar off. It was his calamity that he was
afar off, but* he was then as a silent dove ; (mourning
perhaps, Isa. 38 : 14 ;) but not murmuring, not strug-
gling, not resisting, when seized by the birds of
prey; and the Psalm he penned in this frame was
10 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
Michtam, a golden Psalm. The language of this
meekness is that of Eli, " It is the Lord ;" and that
of David to the same purport, " Here am I, let him
do to me as seemeth good unto him.'' Not only,
He can do what he will, subscribing to his power,
for who can stay his hand ? or, He may do what
he will, subscribing to his sovereignty, for he gives
not account of any of his matters ; or, He will do
what he will, subscribing to his unchangeableness,
for he is in one mind, and who can turn him ? — -but,
Let him do what he will, subscribing to his wisdom
and goodness, as Hezekiah, *' Good is the word of
the Lord, w^hich thou hast spoken." Let him do
what he will, for he will do what is best ; and there-
fore if God should refer the matter to me, says the
meek and quiet soul, being well assiwred that he
knows what is good for me better than I do for my-
self, I would refer it to him again ; " he shall choose
our inhcri:ance for us."
(2.) When the methods of Providence are dark
and intricate, and we are quite at a loss what God
is about to do with us — his way is in the sea, and
his path in the great Avaters, and his footsteps are
not known, clouds and darkness are round about
him — a meek and quiet spirit acquiesces in an as-
surance that all things shall work together for good
to us, if we love God, though we cannot apprehend
how or which way. It teaches us to follow God
v/ith an implicit iaith, as Abraham did when he
ITS NATURE. 11
went out, not knowing whither he went, hut knowing
very well whom he followed. It quiets us with this,
that though what he doeth we know not now, yet
we shall know hereafter. John, 13:7. When
poor Job was brought to that dismal plunge, that he
could no way trace the footsteps of Divine Provi-
dence, but was almost lost in the labyrinth, Job, 23 :
8, 9, how quietly does he sit down with this thought,
*' But He knows the way that I take ; when he hath
tried me I shall come forth as gold." ,
II. There is meekness toward our breth-I^
REN, toward "all men." Tit. 3:2. Meekness isr
especially conversant about the affection of anger,
not wholly to extirpate and eradicate from the soul
the holy indignation of which the Scriptures speak,
for that were to quench a coal which sometimes
there is occasion for, even at God's altar, and to
blunt the edge even of the spiritual weapons with
which w^e are to carry on our spiritual warfare ; but
its office is to direct and govern this affection, that
we may be angry and not sin. Eph. 4 : 26.
Meekness, in the school of the philosophers, is a
virtue consisting in a mean between the extremes ot
rash excessive anger on the one hand, and a defect
of anger on the other ; a mean which Aristotle con-
fesses it very hard exactly to gain.
Meekness, in the school of Christ, is one of the
fruits of the Spirit. Gal. 5 : 22, 23 ; it is a grace
wrought by the Holy Ghost both as a sanctifier and
12 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
as a comforter in the hearts of all true believers,
teaching and enabling them at all times to keep their
passions under the conduct and government of reli-
gion and right reason. I observe that it is wrought
in the hearts of all true believers, because, though
there are some whose natural temper is unhappily
sour and harsh, yet wheresoever there is true grace,
there is a disposition to strive against, and strength
in some measure to conquer such a disposition. And
though in this, as in other graces, an absolute sinless
perfection cannot be expected in this present state,
yet we are to labor after it, and press towards it.
More particularly: the work and office of meek-
ness is to enable us prudently to govern our own
anger when at any time we are provoked, and pa-
tiently to bear the anger of others, that it may not be
a provocation to us. The former is its office espe-
cially in superiors, the latter in inferiors, and both
in equals.
^ 1. Meekness teaches us prudently to govern our
i own anger, whenever any thing occurs that is pro-
I^Hoking. As it is the work of temperance to mode-
/j\t^L rate our natural appetites in things that are pleasing
'p^Xto sense, so it is the work of meekness to moderate
' ^ our natural passions against those things that are
displeasing to sense, and to guide and govern our
resentments. Anger in the soul is like mettle in a
horse, good if it be w^ell managed. Now meekness
is the bridle, as wisdom is the hand that giv-es law to
^
ITS NATURE. 13
it, puts it into the right way, and keeps it in an even,
steady, and regular pace ; reducing it when it turns
aside, preserving it in a due decorum, and restrain-
ing it and giving it check when at any time it grows
headstrong and outrageous, and threatens mischief
to ourselves or others. It must thus be held in, like
the horse and mule, with bit and bridle, lest it
break the hedge, run over those that stand in its
way, or throw the rider himself headlong. It is
true of anger, as we say of fire ; that it is a " good
servant," but 'a "bad master;" it is good on the
hearth, but bad in the hangings. Meekness keeps
it in its place, sets banks to this sea, and says, Hi-
therto thou shalt come, and no further ; here shall
thy proud waves be stayed.
In reference to our own anger, when at any time
we meet with the excitements of it, the work of
meekness is to do these four things :
(1.) To consider the circumstances of that which
we apprehend to be a provocation, so as at no time
to express our displeasure but upon due and ma-
ture deliberation. The office of meekness is to keep
reason upon the throne in the soul as it ought to be ;
to preserve the understanding clear and unclouded,
the judgment untainted and unbiassed in the midst
of the greatest provocations, so as to be able to set
every thing in its true light, and to see it in its own
color, and to determine accordingly; as also to keep
silence in the court, that the ♦* still small voice " in
2
/ 14 ^ HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
which the Lord is, as he was with Elijah at Mount
Horeb, may not be drowned by the noise of the tu-
mult of the passions. A meek man will never be
angry at a child, at a servant, at a friend, till he has
first seriously weighed the cause in just and even
balances, while a steady and impartial hand holds
the scales, and a free and unprejudiced thought ad-
judges it necessary. It is said of our Lord Jesus,
John, 11:33, he troubled himself; which denotes
it to be a considerate act, and what he saw reason
for. Things go right in the soul, when no resent-
ments are admitted into the affections but what have
first undergone the scrutiny of the understanding,
and thence received their pass. That passion which
comes not in by this door, but climbs up some other
way, the same is a thief and a robber, against which
we should guard. In a time of war, (and such a
time it is in every sanctified soul, in a constant war
between grace and corruption,) due care must be
taken to examine all travelers, especially those that
come armed : whence they came, whither they go,
whom they are for, and what they would have '?
Thus should it be in the well-governed, well-disci-
plined soul. Let meekness stand sentinel ; and
upon the advance of a provocation let us examine
who it is that we are about to be angry with, and
for what ? What are the merits of the cause, where-
in lay the offence, what was the nature and tenden-
cy of it ? What are likely to be the consequences
ITS NATURE. 15
of our resentments, and what harm will it be if
we stifle them, and let them go no further? Such
as these are the interrogatories which meekness
would put to the soul ; and in answer to them it
would abstract all which passion is apt to suggest,
and hear reason only as it becomes rational crea-
tures to do.
Three great dictates of meekness we find put to-
gether in one scripture : •' Be swift to hear, slow to
speak, slow to wrath ;" which some observe to be
couched in three proper names of Ishmael's son,;
Gen. 25: 14. I Chr. 1: 30, (which Bishop Pri-'
deaux, in the beginning of the wars, recommended to
a gentleman that had been his pupil, as the sum-
mary of his advice,) Mishma, Dumah, Massa; the
signiiication of which is, hear, keep silence, bear.
Hear reason, keep passion silent, and then you will
not find it difficult to bear the provocation.
It is said of the Holy One of Israel, when the
Egyptians provoked him, he weighed a path to his
anger; so the margin reads it from the Hebrew,
Psalm 78 : 50. Justice first poised the cause, and
then anger poured out the vials. Thus the Lord
came down to see the pride of the Babel-builders
before he scattered them ; and to see the wickedness
of Sodom before he overthrew it — though both were,
obvious and barefaced — to teach us to consider be-
fore we are angry, and to judge before we pass sen-
tence, that herein we may be followers of God as
16 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
dear children, and be merciful, as our Father which
is in heaven is merciful.
We read of "the meekness of wisdom ;'* for where
there is not wisdom, (that wisdom which is profita-
ble to direct, that wisdom of the prudent which is to
understand his way,) meekness will not long be pre-
served. It is our rashness and inconsideration that
betray us to all the mischiefs of an ungoverned pas-
sion, on the neck of which the reins are laid which
should be kept in the hand of reason, and so we are
hurried upon a thousand precipices. Nehemiah is
a remarkable instance of prudence presiding in just
resentments ; he owns, " I was very angry when I
heard their cry ;" but that anger did not at all trans-
gress the laws of meekness, for it follows, *' then I
consulted with myself," or as the Hebrew has it, my
heart consulted in me. Before he expressed his dis-
pleasure he retired into his own bosom, took time
for sober thought upon the case, and then he rebuk-
ed the nobles in a very solid, rational discourse, and
the success was good. In every cause when pas-
sion demands immediate judgment, meekness mov< s
for further time, and will have the matter fairly ar-
gued, and counsel heard on both sides.
When Job had any quarrel with his servants, he
was willing to admit a rational debate of the matter,
and to hear what they had to say for themselves ;
for, says he, "what shall I do when God riseth
up ?" And withal, " did not He that made me in the
ITS NATURE. 17
womb, make him ?" When our hearts are at any
time hot within us, we should do well to put that
question to ourselves which God put to Cain, Gen.
4 : 6. Why am I wroth ? Why am I angry at all ?
Why so soon angry ? Why so very angry ? Why
so far transported and dispossessed of myself by my
anger 1 What reason is there for all this ? Do I
well to be angry for a gourd, that came up in a
night and perished in a night ? Jonah, 4 : 9. Should
I be touched to the quick by such a sudden and tran-
sient provocation? Will not my cooler thoughts
correct these hasty resentments, and therefore were
it not better to check them now ? Such are the rea-
sonings of the meekness of wisdom.
(2.) The work of meekness is to calm the spiriU_
so as that the inward peace may not be disturbed bj'
any outward provocation. No doubt a man may ex-
press his displeasure against the miscarriages of an-
other, as much as at any time there is occasion for,
without suffering his resentments to recoil upon him-
self, and throw his own soul into a fury. What need
is there for a man to tear himself (his soul, as it is
in the Hebrew) in his anger? Job, 18 : 4. Cannot
we charge home upon our enemy's camp, without
the willful disordering of our own troops ? Doubt-
less we may, if meekness have the command ; for
that is a grace which preserves a man master of
himself while he contends to be master of another,
and fortifies the heart against the assaults of provo-
cation that do us no great harm, while they do not
18 • HENRY ON MKEKNESS.
rob us ot our peace, nor disturb the rest of our souls.
As patience in case of sorrow, so meekness in case
of anger, keeps possession of the soul, as the expres-
sion is, Luke, 21 : 19, that we be not dispossessed of
that freehold. The drift of Christ's farewell-sermon
to his disciples we have in the first words of it, John,
16: J, " Let not your hearts be troubled." It is the
duly and interest of all good people, whatever hap-
pens, to keep trouble from their hearts, and to have
them even and sedate, though the eye, as Job ex-
presses it, should *' continue " unavoidably " in the
provocation" of this world. "The wicked (the tur-
bulent and unquiet, as the word primarily signifies)
are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest;-' but
that peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
keeps the hearts and m.inds of all the meek of the
earth. Meekness preserves the mind from being
ruffled and discomposed, and the spirit from being
unhinged by the vanities and vexations of this lower
world. It stills the noise of the sea, the noise of her
waves, and the tumult of the soul ; it permits not the
passions to crowd out in a disorderly manner, like a
confused ungoverned rabble: but draws them out
like the trained bands, every one in his own order,
as wisdom and grace give the word of command.
(3.) Meekness will curb the tongue, and "keep
the mouth as vi^ith a bridle" when the heart is hot.
Even when there may be occasion for a keenness of
expression, and we are called to rebuke sharply,
(cuttingly, Tit. 1 : 13,) yet meekness forbids all fury
ITS NATURft. 19
and indecency of language, and every thing that
sounds like clamor and evil-speaking. The meek-
ness of Moses was not at hand when he spake that
unadvised word, " rebels," for which he was shut
out of Canaan, though rebels they were, and at that
time very provoking. Men in a passion are apt to
give reviling language, to call names, and those
most senseless and ridiculous : to take the blessed
name of God in vain, and so profane it. It is a
wretclied w-ay by which the children of hell vent
their passion at their beasts, their servants, any per-
son, or any thing that provokes them — to swear at
I hem. Men in a passion are apt to reveal secrets,
to make ra«h vows and resolutions, which after-
wards prove a snare, and sometimes to slander and
belie their brethren, and bring railing accusations,
and so do the devil's work ; and to speak that " in
iheir haste" concerning others, Ps. 116:11, of
which they afterwards see cause to repent. How
brutishly did Saul, in his passion, call his own son,
the heir-apparent to the crown, the " son of the per-
verse rebellious woman !" " Raca " and " Thou fool"
are specified by our Savior as breaches of the law of
the sixth commandment ; and the passion in the
heart is so far from excusing such opprobrious
speeches, (for which purpose it is commonly alledg-
ed,) that really it is that w^hich gives them their ma-
lignity : they are the smoke from that fire, the gall
and wormw^ood springing from that root of bitterness ;
and if for " every idle word that men speak," much
20 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
more for such wicked words as these, must they give
an account at the day of judgment. And as it is a
reflection upon God to kill, so it is to curse men
that are made after the image of God, though even
so much our inferiors; that is, to speak ill of them,
or to wish ill to them.
This is the disease Avhich meekness prevents, and
is in the tongue a " law of kindness." It is to the
tongue as the helm is to the ship, Jam. 3 : 4, not to
silence it, but to guide it, to steer it wisely, espe-
cially when the wind is high. If at any time we have
conceived passion and thought evil, meekness will
lay the hand upon the mouth, (as the wise man's ad-
vice is, Prov. 30 : 32,) to keep that evil thought from
venting itself in any evil word reflecting upon God
or our brother. It will reason a disputed point with-
out noise, give a reproof without a reproach, con-
vince a man of his folly without calling him a fool,
will teach superiors either to forbear threatening,
Eph. 6 : 9, or, as the margin reads it, to moderate it ;
and will look diligently lest any root of bitterness,
springing up, trouble us, and thereby we and many
others be defiled.
(4.) Meekness will cool the heat of passion quick-
ly, and not sufler it to continue. As it keeps us
from being soon angry, so it teaches us, when we
are angry, to be soon pacified. The anger of a
meek man is like fire struck out of steel, hard to be
got out, and when it is, soon gone. The wisdom
that is from above, as it is *' gentle," and so not apt to
ITS NATURB. 21
provoke, so it is " easy to be entreated " when any
provocation is given ; and has the ear always open
10 the first proposals and overtures of satisfaction,
submission, and reconciliation ; and thus the anger
is turned away. He that is of a meek spirit will be
forward to forgive injuries and affronts, and has some
excuse or other ready wherewith to extenuate and
qualify the provocation, which an angry man, for
the exasperating and justifjang of his own resent-
ments, will industriously aggravate. It is but to
say, " There is no great harm done, or, if there be,
there was none intended, and peradventure it was
an oversight ;" and so the offence, being looked at
through that end of the perspective which diminish-
es, is easily past by, and the distemper being taken
in time, goes off quickly, the fire is quenched before
it gets head, and by a speedy interposal the plague
is stayed. While the world is so full of the sparks
of provocation, and there is so much tinder in the
hearts of the best, no marvel if anger come some-
limes into the bosom of a wise man; but it rests
only in the bosom of fools. Eccl. 7 : 9. Angry
thoughts, as other vain thoughts, ma}'- crowd into
the heart upon a sudden surprise, but meekness will |\
not suffer them to lodge there, nor let the sun go "^
down upon the wrath ; Eph. 4 : 26, for if it do, there
is danger lest it rise bloody the next morning. Anger
concocted becomes malice ; it is the wisdom of meek-
ness, by proper applications, to disperse the humor
before it comes to a head. One would have thought,
22 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
when David so deeply resented Nabal's abuse, that
nothing less than the blood of Nabal and all his
house could have quenched his rage ; but it was
done at a cheaper rate ; and he showed his meek-
t ness by yielding to the diversion that Abigail's pre-
sent and speech gave him, and that with satisfaction
and thankfulness. He was not only soon pacified,
but blessed her. and blessed God for her that paci-
fied him. God does not contend for ever, neither
is he always Avroth ; " his anger endures but a mo-
ment." How unlike him are those whose sword
devours for ever, and whose anger burns like the
coals of juniper? But the grace of meekness, if it
fail of keeping the peace of the soul from being bro-
ken, yet fails not to recover it presently, and make
up the breach ; and, upon the least transport, brings
help in time of need, restores the soul, puts it in
frame again, and no great harm is done. Such as
these are the achievements of meekness in govern-
ing our own anger.
k!^> 2. Meekness teaches and enables us patiently to
\Siar the anger of others, which property of meek*
ness we have especially occasion for in reference
to our superiors and equals. Commonly that which
provokes anger is anger, as fire kindles fire ; now
meekness prevents that violent collision which for-
ces out these sparks, and softens at least one side,
and so puts a stop to a great deal of mischief; for it
is the second blow that makes the quarrel. Our
first care should be to prevent the anger of others,
ITS NATURE. 2S
by giving no offence to any, but becoming all things
to all men, every one studying to please his neigh-
bor for good to edification, Rom. 15:2, and endea-
voring as much as lies in us to accommodate our-
selves to the temper of all with whom we have to do,
and to make ourselves acceptable and agreeable to
them. How easy and comfortable should we make
every relation, and all our intercourse, if we were
but better acquainted with this art of obliging. Nap-
thali's tribe that was famous for giving goodly words.
Gen. 49 : 21, had the happiness of being satisfied
with favor, Deut. 33 : 23, for " every man shall kiss
his lips that giveth a right answer." In the conju-
gal relation it is taken for granted, 1 Cor. 7 : 33, 34,
that the care of the husband is to please his wife,
and the care of the wife is to please her husband ; and
where there is that mutual care, enjoyment cannot be
wanting. Some people love to be unkind, and take
a pleasure in displeasing, and especially contrive to
provoke those they find passionate and easily pro-
voked, that (as he that giveth his neighbor drink, and
putteth his bottle to him, Hab. 2 : 15, 16,) they may
look upon his shame, to which, in his passion, he ex-
poses himself; and so they make a mock at sin, and
become like the madman that casts firebrands, ar-
rows, and death, and says, *' Am not I in sport?"
But the law of Christ forbids us to provoke one an-
other, unless it be " to love and good works ;" and en-
joins us to " bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill
the law of Christ."
H
HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
But because they must rise betimes who will
please every body ; and carry their cup even indeed
who will give no offence; our next care must be so
to behave ourselves when others are angry, that we
may not make bad worse. And this is one princi-
" pal thing in which the younger must submit them-
selves to the elder; nay, in w^hich all of us must be
" subject one to another," as our rule is, 1 Pet. 5 : 5.
And here meekness is of use, either to enjoin silence
or indite a soft answer.
(1.) To enjoin silence. It is prescribed to ser-
vants to please their masters well in all things, " not
answering again," for that must needs be displeas-
ing: better say nothing than say that which is pro-
voking. When our hearts are hot within us, it is
good for us to keep silence, and hold our peace : so
David did ; and when he did speak, it was in prayer
to God, and not in reply to the wicked that w^ere
before him. If the heart be angry, angry words
will but inflame it the more, as wheels are heated
by a rapid motion. One reflection and repartee be-
gets another, and the beginning of the debate is like
the letting forth of \vater, w^hich is with difficulty
stopt when the least breach is made in the bank ;
and therefore meekness says, " By all means keep
silence, and leave it off before it be meddled with.''
When a fire is begun, it is good, if possible, to
smother it, and so prevent its spreading. Let us
deal wisely, and stifle it in the birth, lest afterward it
prove too strong to be dealt with. Anger in the
ITS NATURE. 2S^
heart is like the books stowed in cellars in the con-
flagration of London, which, though they were ex-
tremely heated, never took fire till they took air
many days after, which giving vent to the heat put
them into a flame. When the spirits are in a fer-
ment, though it may be some present pain to check
and suppress them, and the headstrong passions
hardly admit the bridle, yet afterward it will be no
grief of heart to us.
Those who find themselves wronged and aggriev-
ed, think they may have leave to speak ; but it is bet-
ter to be silent than to speak amiss, and make work
for iiepentance. At such a time he that holds his
tongue, holds his peace; and if we soberly reflect,
we shall find we have been often the worse for our
speaking, hut seldom the worse for our silence. This
must be especially remembered and observed by as
many as are under the yoke, who will certainly
have most comfort in meekness, and patience, and
silent submission, not only to the good and gentle,
but also to the froward. It is good in such cases
to remember our place, and (if the spirit of a ruler
rise up against us) not to leave it, that is, not to do
any thing unbecoming, for yielding pacifieth great
offences. Eccl. 10: 4. We have a common proverb
that teaches us this, " When thou art the hammer,
knock thy fill ; but when thou art the anvil, lie thou
still :" for it is the posture thou art cut out fori and
which best becomes thee.
3
26 H£NRV OK MEEKNE86.
If Others be angry at us without cause, and wc
have ever so much reason on our side, yet often-
times it is best to adjourn our own vindication,
though we think it necessary, till the passion be
over ; for there is nothing said or done in passion,
but it may be better said and better done afterwards.
When we are calm, we shall be likely to say it and
do it in a better manner; and when our brother is
calm, we shall be likely to say it and do it to a bet-
ter purpose. A needful truth spoken in anger may
do more hurt than good, and offend rather than sa-
tisfy. The prophet himself forbore even a message
from God, when he saw Amaziah in a passion.
Sometimes it may be advisable to get some one else to
say that for us which is to be said, rather than say
it ourselves. However, we have a righteous God,
to whom, if in a meek silence we suffer ourselves to
be injured, we may commit our cause, and having his
promise that he will *' bring forth our righteousness
as the light, and our judgment as the noon-day," we
had better leave it in his hands than undertake to
manage it ourselves, lest that which we call clearing
ourselves, God should call quarreling with our breth-
ren. David was greatly provoked by those that sought
his hurt, and spake mischievous things against him ;
and yet, says he, " I as a deaf man, heard not ; I was
as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth." And
why so 1 It was not because he had nothing to say, or
knew not how to say it; but because **in thee, O
ITS NATURE. 27
Lord, do I hope : thou wilt hear, O Lord my God."
If God hear, what need have I to hear ? His con-
cerning himself in the matter supersedes ours, and
he is not only engaged, in justice, to own every
righteous cause that is injured, but he is further en-
gaged, in honor, to appear for those who, in obe-
dience to the law of meekness, commit their cause
to him. If there be any vindication or avenging
necessary, (which infinite Wisdom is the best judge
of,) he can do it better than we can ; therefore " give
place unto wrath," that is, to the judgment of God,
which is according to truth and equity ; make room
f<5r him to take the seat, and do not you step in be-
fore him. It is fit that our wrath should stand by
to give way to his, for the wrath of man engages
not the righteousness of God for him. Even just
appeals made to him, if they be made in passion,
are not admitted into the court of heaven, being not
duly presented; that one thing, error, is sufficient to
overrule them. Let not therefore those that do well
and suffer for it, spoil their own vindication by mis-
timing and mismanaging it ; but tread in the steps
of the Lord Jesus, who, when he was reviled, re-
viled not again; when he suffered, he threatened
not, but was as a lamb dumb before the shearers,
and so committed himself to Him that judges right-
eously. It is indeed a principal part of self-denial
to be silent when we have enough to say, and pro-
vocation to say it ; but if we do thus control our
28 HENK¥ ON MEEKNESS.
tongues out of a pure regard to peace and love,
it will turn to a good account, and will be an evi-
dence for us that we are Christ's disciples, having
learned to deny ourselves. It is better by silence
to yield to our brother, who is, or has been, or may
be our friend, than by angry speaking to yield to
the devil, who has been, and is, and ever will be our
sworn enemy.
(2.) To indite a soft answer. This Solomon com-
mends as a proper expedient to turn away wrath,
while grievous words do but stir up anger. When
any speak angrily to us, we must pause a while and
study an answer, which, both for the matter and man-
ner of it, may be mild and gentle. This brings wa-
ter, while peevishness and provocation would but
bring oil to the flame. Thus is death and life in
the power of the tongue : it is either healing or kill-
ing, an antidote or a poison, according as it is used.
When the waves of the sea beat on a rock, they bat-
ter and make a noise ; but a soft sand receives them
silently, and returns them without damage. A soft
tongue is a wonderful specific, and has a very strange
virtue in it. Solomon says, " it breaks the bone,"
that is, it qualifies those that were provoked, and
makes them pliable ; it " heaps coals of fire upon the
head" of an enemy, not to burn him, but to melt
him. "Hard words," we say, " break no bones ;" but
it seems soft ones do, and yet do no harm, as they
calm an angry spirit and prevent its progress. A
ITS NATURE, 29
Stone that falls on a wool-pack rests there, and re-
bounds not to do any further mischief; such is a
meek answer to an angry question.
The good effects of a soft answer, and the ill con-
sequences of a peevish one, are observable in the
stories of Gideon and Jephthah : both of them, in the
day of their triumphs over the enemies of Israel,
were quarreled with by the Ephraimites, when the
danger was past and the victory won, because they
had not been called upon to engage in the battle.
Gideon pacified them with a soft answer, -"What
have I done now in comparison of you ?" magnify-
ing'their achievements and lessening his own, speak-
ing honorably of them and meanly of himself: " Is
not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better
than the vintage of Abiezer ?" In which reply it is
hard to say whether there was more of wit or wis-
dom ; and the effect was very good ; the Ephraimites
were pleased, their anger turned away, a civil war
prevented, and nobody could think the worse of Gi-
deon for his mildness and self denial. On the con-
trary, he won more true honor by his victory over
his own passion, than he did by his victory overall
the host of Midian ; for he that hath rule over his
own spirit is better than the mighty. The angel of
the Lord has pronounced him a " mighty man of
valor ;" and this his tame submission did not at all
derogate from that part of his character. But Jeph-
thah, who by many instances appears to be a man of
3*
30 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
a rough and hasty spirit, though enrolled among
the eminent believers, Heb. 11 : 32, (for all good
people are not alike happy in their temper,) when
the Ephraimites in like manner quarrel with him,
rallies them, upbraids them with their cowardice,
boasts of his ow^n courage, and challenges them to
make good their cause. Judg. 12:2. They retort
:i scurrilous reflection upon Jephthah's country, as
it is usual w^ith passion to taunt and jeer : *' Ye
Gileadites are fugitives." From words they go to
blows, and so great a matter does this little fire kin-
dle, that there goes no less to quench the flame than
the blood of two and forty thousand Ephraimites.
All which had been happily prevented, if Jephthah
had had but half as much meekness in his heart as
he had reason on his side.
A soft answer is the dictate and dialect of that
wisdom which is from above, which is peaceable,
gentle, and easy to be entreated: and to recommend
jt to us, we have the pattern of good men, as that of
Jacob's conduct to Esau. Though none is so hard
to be won as a brother ofl!ended, yet, as he had pre-
vailed with God by faith and prayer, so he prevailed
with his brother by meekness and humility. We
have also the pattern of angels, who, even when a
rebuke was needful, durst not turn it into a railing
accusation, durst not give any reviling language,
not to the devil himself, but referred the matter to
God — " The Lord rebuke thee ;" as that passage,
ITS NATURE. 31
Judo, 5 : 9, is commonly imderstood. Nay, we have
the pattern of a good God, who, though he could
plead against us with his great power, yet gives soft
answers : witness his dealing Avith Cain when he
was wroth and his countenance fallen, reasoning the
case with him, " Why art thou wroth ? If thou doest
well, shalt not thou be accepted ?" With Jonah like-
wise when he Avas so discontented, " Doest thou
well to be angry ?" This is represented, in the pa-
rable of the prodigal son, by the conduct of the fli-
ther towards the elder brother, who was so angry
that he would not come in. The father did not sa)%
" Let him stay out then ;" but he came himself and
entreated him, when he might have interposed his
authority and commanded him, saying, " Son, thou
art ever with me." When a passionate contest is
begun, there is a plague broke out: the meek man,
like Aaron, takes his censer with the incense of a
soft answer, steps in seasonably, and stays it.
This soft answer, in case we have committed a
fault, though perhaps not culpable to the degree that
we are charged with, must be penitent, humble, and
submissive ; and we must be ready to acknowledge
our error, and not stand in it, or insist upon our own
vindication ; but rather aggravate than excuse it, ra-
ther condemn than justify ourselves. It will be a
good evidence of our repentance towards God, to
humble ourselves to our brethren whom we have
offended ; as it will be also a good evidence of our
S2 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
being forgiven of God, if we be ready to forgive
those that have offended us : and such yielding pa-
cifies great offences. Meekness teaches us, as often
as we trespass against our brother, to "turn again
and say, I repent." An acknowledgment, in case of
a willful affront, is perhaps as necessary to pardon,
OS (we commonly say) restitution is in case of wrong.
So much for the opening of the nature of meekness,
w^hich yet will receive further light from consider-
ing more particularly what is implied in
QUIETNESS OF SPIRIT.
Quietness is the evenness, the composure, and the
rest of the soul, which speaks both the nature and
the excellency of the grace of meekness. The great-
est comfort and happiness of man is sometimes set
forth by quietness. That peace of conscience which
Christ has left for a legacy to his disciples, that pre-
sent sabbatism of the soul, which is an earnest of
the rest that remains for the people of God, is called
" quietness and assurance for ever," and is promised
as the efiect of righteousness. So graciously has God
been pleased to intwine interests with us, as to en-
join the same thing as a duty, which he proposes
and promises as a privilege. Justly may we say that
we serve a good Master, whose '* yoke is easy :" it
is not only easy, but sweet and gracious, so the word
signifies; not only tolerable, but amiable and aceep-
ITS NATURE. 33
table. Wisdom's waj's are not only pleasant, but
pleasantness itself, and all her paths are peace. It is
the character of the Lord's people, both in respect to
holiness and happiness, that, however they be brand-
ed as the troublers of Israel, they are "the quiet in
the land," If every saint be made a spiritual prince,
Rev. 1 : 6, having a dignity above others, and a do-
minion over himself, surely he is like Seraiah, "a
quiet prince." It is a reign with Christ, the tran-
scendent Solomon, under the influence of whose
golden sceptre there is " abundance of peace as long
as the moon endures," yea, and longer, for "of the
increase of his government and peace there shall be
no end." Quietness is recommended to us in the
Scriptures as a grace which we should be endued
with, and a duty which we should practice. In
the midst of all the affronts and injuries that are
or can be ofl?ered us, we must keep our spirits sedate
and undisturbed, and evidence, by a calm, and even,
nnd regular behavior, that they are so. This is quiet-
ness. Our Savior has pronounced the blessing of
adoption upon the peace-makers. Matt. 5:9; those
that are for peace, as David professes himself to be,
Psalm 120: 7, in opposition to those that delight in
war. Now, if charity be for peace-making, surely
this "charity begins at home," and is for making
peace there in the first place. Peace in our own
souls is some conformity to the example of the God
of peace, who, though he does not always give peace
34 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
on this earth, yet evermore "makes peace in his own
high-places." This some think is the primary in-
tention of that peace-making on which Christ com-
mands the blessing : it is to have strong and hearty
affections to peace, to be peaceably-minded. In a
word, quietness of spirit is the soul's stillness and
silence from intending provocation to any, or resent-
ing provocation from any with whom we have to do.
The word has something in it of metaphor, which
admirably illustrates the grace of meekness.
1. We must be quiet as the air is quiet from
wi7ids. Disorderly passions are like stormy winds
in the soul, they toss and hurry it, and often strand
or overset it ; they move it •' as the trees of the wood
are moved with the wind ;" it is the prophet's com-
parison, and is an apt emblem of a man in passion.
Now meekness restrains these winds, says to them,
Peace, be still, and so preserves a calm in the soul,
and makes it conformable to Him who has the
winds in his hands, and is herein to be praised that
even the stormy winds fulfill his word. A brisk gale
is often useful, especially to the ships of desire, (as
the Hebrew phrase is, Job, 9 : 26 ;) so there should
be in the soul such a warmth and vigor as will help
to speed us to the desired harbor. It is not well to
lie wind-bound in dullness and indifference ; but tem-
pests are perilous, yea, though the wind be in the
right point. So are strong passions, even in good
men ; they both hinder the voyage and hazard the
ITS NATURE. Z5
ship. Such a quickness as consists with quietness is
what we should all labor after, and meekness will
contribute very much toward it ; it will silence the
noise, control the force, moderate the impetus, and
correct all undue and disorderly transports. What
manner of grace is this, that even the winds and the
sea obey it ! If we will but use the authority God
has given us over our own hearts, we may keep the
winds of passion under the command of religion and
reason; and then the soul is quiet, the sun shines, all
is pleasant, serene and smiling, and the man sleeps
sweetly and safely on the lee-side. We make our
voyage among rocks and quicksands, but if the
weather be calm, we can the better steer so as to
avoid them, and by a due care and temper strike the
mean between extremes ; whereas he that suffers
these winds of passion to get head, and spreads a
large sail before them, while he shuns one rock,
splits upon another, and is in danger of being drown-
ed in destruction and perdition by many foolish and
hurtful lusts, especially those whence wars and fight-
ings come.
2. We must be quiet as the sea is quiet from
waves. The wicked, whose sin and punishment both
lie in the unruliness of their own souls, and the vio-
lence and disorder of their own passions, which per-
haps will not be the least of their eternal torments,
are compared to " the troubled sea, when it cannot
rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt;" that is.
36 HENRV ON MEEKNESS.
they are uneasy to themselves and to all about them,
*' raging waves of the sea, foaming out their ovirn
shame;" their hard speeches which they speak
against God, and dignities, and things which they
know not, their great swelling words and mockings ;
Jude, 13 : 18 ; these are the shame they foam out
Now meekness is a grace of the Spirit, that moves
upon the face of the waters, and quiets them, smooths
the ruffled sea, and stills the noise of it ; it casts forth
none of the mire and dirt of passion. The waves
mount not up to heaven in proud and vain-glorious
boastings ; they go not dovvn to the depths to scrape
up vile and scurrilous language; there is no reeling
to and fro, as men overcome with drink or with
their own passion ; there is none of that transport
which brings them to their wits' end ; but " they are
glad because they are quiet, so he bringeth them to
their desired haven." This calmness and evenness
of spirit makes our passage over the sea of this
world safe and pleasant, quick and speedy towards,
the desired harbor, and is amiable and exemplary
in the eyes of others.
3. We must be quiet as the land is quiet from
war. It was the observable felicity of Asa's reign,
that " in his days the land was quiet." In the pre-
ceding reigns there was no peace to him that went
out, or to him that came in ; but now the rumors and
alarms of war were stilled, and the people delivered
from the noise of archers at the place of drawing
ITS NATURE. 37
waters, as when the land had rest in Deborah's time.
Such a quietness there should be in the soul, and
such a quietness there will be where meekness
sways the sceptre. A soul inflamed with wrath and
passion upon all occasions, is like a kingdom em-
broiled in war, in a civil war, subject to continual
frights^ and losses, and perils ; deaths and terrors, in
their most horrid shapes, walk triumphantly, sleep
is disturbed) families broken, friends suspected, ene-
mies feared) laws silenced, commerce ruined, busi-
ness neglected, cities wasted ; such heaps upon heaps
does ungoverned anger lay, when it is let loose in
the souL But meekness makes these wars to cease,
breaks the bow, cuts the spear, sheaths the sword,
and in the midst of a contentious world preserves the
soul from being the seat of war, and makes peace in
her borders. The rest of the soul is not disturbed,
its comforts not plundered, its government not dis-
ordered, the laws of religion and reason rule, and
not the sword : neither its communion wnth God
nor with the saints interrupted ; no breaking in of
temptation, no going out of corruption, no complain-
ing in the streets ; no occasion given, no occasion
taken, to complain. Happy is the soul that is in
such a case. The words of such wise men are heard
in quiet, more than the cry of him that ruleth among
fools, and this " wnsdom is better than weapons of
war." This is the quietness we should every one of
us labor after ; and it is what we rujght attain to, if
4
dd HENRY ON M££KN£S£.
T/e would but more support and exercise the autho-
rity of our graces, and guide and control the power
of our passions.
4. We must be quiet as the child is quiet after
weaning. It is the Psalmist's comparison, " I have
behaved," or rather, I have composed, "and quieted
myself as a child that is weaned of his mother, my
soul is even as a weaned child." A child, while it is
in the v/eaning, perhaps is a little cross, and froward,
and troublesome for a time; but when it is perfectly
weaned, how quickly does it accommodate itself to
its new way of feeding ! Thus a quiet soul, if pro-
voked by the denial or loss of some earthly comfort
or delight, quiets itself, and does not fret at it, nor
perplex itself with anxious cares how to live without
it, but composes itself to make the best of that which
is. And this holy indifference to the delights of sense
is (like the weaning of a child) a good step taken
towards the perfect man, "the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ." A child newly weaned is
free from all the uneasiness and disquietude of care,
and fear, and envy, and anger, and revenge : how
undisturbed are its sleeps, and even in its dreams it
looks pleasant and smiling ! How easy its days !
How quiet its nights ! If put into a little pet now
and then, how soon it is over, the provocation for-
given, the sense of it forgotten, and both buried in
an innocent kiss ! Thus, if ever we would enter into
the kingdom of heaven, we must be converted from
ITS NATURE. 39
pride, envy, ambition, and strife for precedency, and
must become like little children. So our Savior has
told us, who, even after his resurrection, is called
•' the holy child Jesus." And even when we have
put away other childish things, yet still " in malice "
we must be children. And as for the quarrels of
others, a meek and quiet Christian endeavors to be
as disinterested and as little engaged as a weaned
child in the mother's arms, that is not capable of such
angry resentments.
This is that meekness and quietness of spirit
which is recommended to us : such a command and
composure of the soul that it be not unhinged by
any provocation whatsoever, but all its powers and
faculties preserved in due temper for the just dis-
charge of their respective offices. In a word, put off
all wrath, and anger, and malice, those corrupted
limbs of the old man ; pluck up and cast away those
roots of bitterness, and stand upon a constant guard
against all the exorbitances of your own passion :
then you will soon know, to your comfort, better
than I can tell you, what it is to be of a meek and
quiet spirit.
40 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
CHAPTER II.
THE EXCELLENCY OF MEEKNESS.
The very opening of this cause, one would think,
were enough to carry it; and the explaining of the
nature of meekness and quietness should suffice to
recommend it to us. Such an amiable sweetness
does there appear in it, upon the very first view,
that if we look upon its beauty, we cannot but be
enamored with it. But because of the opposition of
our corrupt hearts to this, as well as the other graces
of the Holy Spirit, I shall endeavor more particu-
larly to show the excellency of it, that we may be
brought, if possible, to be in love with it, and to sub-
mit our souls to its charming power.
It is said, Prov. 17 : 27, that a man of understand-
ing is of an excellent spirit. Tremellius translates it,
he is of a cool spirit ; put them together and they
teach us that a cool spirit is an excellent spirit, and
that he is a man of understanding who is governed
by such a spirit. The Scriptures tell us (what need
we more?) that it is in the sight of God of great
price, and we may be sure that is precious indeed
which is so in God's sight : that is good, very good,
which he pronounces so ; for his judgment is accord-
ing to truth, and sooner or later he will bring all the
world to be of his mind ; for as he has decided it, so
ITS exce:
shall our doom he, and he ^i\\ be " justified when
he speaketh, and clear when he judgeth."
The excellency of a meek and quiet spirit will
appear, if we consider the credit ol it, and the com-
fort of it — the present profit there is by it, and the
preparedness there is in it for future blessings.
I. ConsideiJigi\r qBj^DiTAjBJLK a meek and quiet
spirit is. Credit or reputation all desire, though few
consider aright either what it is, or what is the right
way of obtaining it ; and particularly it is little be-
lieved what a great deal of true honor there is in the
grace of meekness, and what a sure and ready way
mild and quiet souls take to gain the approval of
their Master, and of all their fellow- servants who
love him, and are like him.
1. There is in it the credit of a victory. What a
gteat figure do the names of high and mighty con-
querors make in the records of fame ! How are their
conduct, their valor and success cried up and cele-
brated ! But if we will believe the word of truth,
and pass a judgment upon things according to it^
" He that is slow to anger, is better than the mighty ;
and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a
city." Behold, a greater than Alexander or Cassar
is here ; the former of whom (some think) lost more
true honor by yielding to his own ungoverned anger,
than he got by all his conquests. No triumphant
chariot so easy, so safe, so truly glorious, as that in
which the meek and quiet soul rides over all the
4*
42 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
provocations of an injurious world with a gracious
unconcernedness ; no train so splendid, so noble, as
that train of comforts and graces which attend this
chariot. The conquest of an unruly passion is more
honorable than that of an unruly people, for it re-
quires more true courage. It is easier to kill an
enemy without, which may be done at a blow, than to
chain up and govern an enemy within, which re-
quires a constant, even, steady hand, and a long and
regular management. It was more to the honor of
David to yield himself conquered by Abigail's per-
suasions, than to have made himself a conqueror
over Nabal and all his house. A rational victory
must needs be allowed more honorable to a rational
creature than a brutal one. This is a cheap, safe,
and unbloody conquest that does nobody any harm,
no lives, no treasures are sacrificed to it, the glory
of these triumphs are not stained as others generally
are, with funerals. Every battle of the warrior, says
the prophet, " is with confused noise, and garments
roiled in blood ;" but this victory shall be obtained
by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts. Nay, in meek
and quiet suffering we are " more than conquerors,"
through Christ that loved us ; conquerors with little
loss, we lose nothing but the gratifying of abase lust ;
conquerors with great gain, the spoils we divide are
very rich — the favor of God, the comforts of the Spirit,
the foretastes of everlasting pleasures ; these are more
glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey
ITS EXCELLENCY. 43
We are more than conquerors ; that is, triumphers ;
we live a life of victory ; every day is a day of tri-
umph to the meek and quiet soul.
Meekness is a victory over ourselves and the re-
bellious lusts in our own bosoms ; it is the quieting
of intestine broils*, the stilling of an insurrection at
home, which is often harder than to resist a foreign
invasion. It is an effectual victory over those that
injure us, and make themselves enemies to us, and is
often a means of winning their hearts. The law of
meekness is, " If thine enemy hunger, feed him ; if
he thirst, not only give him drink, (which is an act
of charity,) but drink to him, in token of friendship,
and true love, and reconciliation ; and in so doing
thou shalt " heap coals of fire upon his head," not to
donsume him, but to melt and soften him, that he
may be cast into a new mould ; and thus while the
angry and revengeful man, that will bear down all
before him with a high hand, is overcome of evil,
the patient and forgiving overcome evil with good ;
and forasmuch as their '* ways please the Lord, he
makes even their enemies to be at peace with them."
Nay, meekness is a victory over Satan, the greatest
enemy of all ; and what conquest can be more ho-
norable than this ? It is written for caution to us all,
and it reflects honor on those who through grace
overcome, that " we wrestle not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities and powers, and the
rulers of the darkness of this world." The magni-
44 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
fying of the adversary, magnifies the victory over
him ; such as these are the meek man's vanquished
enemies ; the spoils of these are the trophies of his
victory. It is the design of the devil, that great de-
ceiver and destroyer of souls, that is baffled ; it is his
attempt that is defeated, his assault that is repulsed
by our meekness and quietness. Our Lord Jesus
was more admired for controlling and commanding
the unclean spirits, than for any other cures which
he wrought. Unruly passions are unclean spirits,
legions of which some souls are possessed with, and
desperate, outrageous work they make ; the soul be-
comes like that miserable creature, Mark, 5 : 3, that
cried and cut himself; or that, Mark, 9 : 22, who
was so often cast into the fire, and into the waters.
The meek and quiet soul is, through grace, a con-
queror over these enemies, their fiery darts are
quenched by the shield of faith, Satan is in some
measure trodden under his feet, and the victory will
be complete shortly, when "he that overcometh"
shall sit down with Christ upon his throne, even as
he overcame and is set down with the Father upon
his throne, where he still appears in the emblem
of his meekness, " a lamb as it had been slain." And
upon Mount Zion, at the head of his heavenly hosts,
he appears also as a lamb. Rev. 14 : 1. Such is the
honor meekness has in those higher regions.
2. There is in it the credit of beauty. The beauty
of a thing consists in the symmetry, harmony, and
ITS EXCELLENCY. 45
agreeableness of all the parts : now what is meek-
ness but the soul's agreement with itself? It is the
joint concurrence of all the affections to the univer-
sal peace and quiet of the soul, every one regularly
acting in its own place and order, and so contribu-
ting to the common good. Nextjq the beauty of ho-
liness, j^ich is the soul's agreement with God, is
the beauty of meekness, which is the soul's agree-
m'enf with itself. " Behold how good and how plea-
sant a thing it is " for the powers of the soul thus to
" dwell together in unity," the reason knowing how
to rule, and the affections at the same time knov/ing
how to obey. Exorbitant passion is a discord in the
soul ; it is like a tumor in the face, which spoils the
beauty of it : meekness scatters the humor, binds
down the swelling, and so prevents the deformity,
"and preserves the beauty. This is one instance of
the comeliness of grace, *' through my comeliness,"
says God to Israel, " which I had put upon thee."
It puts a charming loveliness and amiableness.upon
the soul, which renders it acceptable to all who know
what true worth and beauty is. He that in righte-
ousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, that
is, in Christian meekness and quietness of spirit,
*' serveth Christ, is acceptable to God and approved
of men." And to whom else can we wish to recom-
mend ourselves ?
Solomon, a very competent judge of beauty, has
determined that it is *' a man's wisdom " that *' makes
46 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
his face to shine ;" and doubtless the meekness of
wisdom contributes as much as any one branch of
it to this lustre. We read in Scripture of three whose
faces shone remarkably, and they were all eminent
for meekness. The face of Moses shone, and be
was the meekest of ail the men on earth. The face
of Stephen shone, and he it was, who, in the midst
of a shower of stones, so meekly submitted, and
prayed for his persecutors. The face of our Lord
Jesus shone in his transfiguration, and he was the
great pattern of meekness. It is a sweet and pleas-
ing air which this grace puts upon the countenance,
while it keeps the soul in tune, and frees it from
those jarring discords wbich are the certain effect of
an ungoverned passion.
3. There is in it the credit of an ornament. The
Apostle speaks of it as " an adorning " much more
excellent and valuable than gold, pearls, or the most
costly array. It is an adorning to the soul, the prin-
cipal, the immortal part of the man. That outward
adorning does but deck and beautify the body, which
at the best is but a sister to the worms, and will ere
long be a feast for them ; but this is the ornament of
the soul, by which we are allied to the invisible
world : it is an adorning that recommends us to
God, which is in his sight " of great price." Or-
naments go by estimation : now we may be sure
the judgment of God is right and unerring. Every
thing is indeed as it is with God : those are right-
ITS EXCELLENCY. 47
eous indeed, that are righteous before God ; and
that is an ornament indeed which he calls and
counts so. It is an ornament of God's own making.
Is the soul thus decked ? It is he that has decked it*
By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens, and by
the same Spirit has he garnished the meek and quiet
souL It is an ornament of his accepting; it must
needs be so if it be of his own working ; for to him
who has this ornament, more adorning shall be
given. He has promised that he will " beautify the
meek with salvation;" and if the garments of salva-
tion will not beautify, what will ? The robes of glo-
ry will be the everlasting ornaments of meek and
(juiet spirits. This meekness is an ornament that,
like the Israelites' clothes in the wilderness, never
waxes old, nor will ever go out of fashion while
right reason and religion have place in the world :
all the wise and good will reckon those best
drest that put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and walk
with him in the white of meekness and innocency.
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one
of these lilies of the valleys, though lilies among
thorns.
The same ornament which is recommended to
wives, is by the same apostle recommended to us
all. ** Yea, all of you be subject one to another :"
that explains what meekness is ; it is that mutual
yielding which we owe one to another, for edifica-
tion and in the fear of God. This seems to be a
48 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
hard saying, how shall we digest it ? an impractf*
cable duty, how shall we conquer it ? Why, it fol*
lows, " Be clothed with humility." Which implies,
(1.) i\iQ fixedness of this grace : we must gird it fast
to us, and not leave it to hang loose, so as to be
snatched away by every temptation : watchfulness
and resolution in the strength of Christ must tie the
knot upon our graces, and make them as the girdle
that cleaves to a man's loins. (2.) The comeliness
and ornament of it ; put it on as a knot of ribbons,
as an ornament to the soul : such is the meekness
of wisdom, it gives to the head an ornament of
grace, and (which is more) a crown of glory. Prov.
1 : 9, and 4 : 9.
4. There is in it the credit of true courage. Meek-
ness is commonly despised by the grandees of the
age as cowardice and meanness, and the evidence
of a little soul, and is posted accordingly ; while the
most furious and angry revenge is celebrated and
applauded under the pompous names of valor, ho-
nor, and greatness of spirit. This arises from a
mistaken notion of courage, the true nature where-
of is thus stated by a very ingenious pen, " It is a
resolution never to decline any evil of pain, when
the choosing of it, and the exposing of ourselves to
it, is the only remedy against a greater evil." And
therefore he that accepts a challenge, and so runs
himself upon the evil of sin, which is the greater
evil, only for fear of shame and reproach, which is
ITS EXCELLENCY* 49
the less evil, is the coward ; while he that refuses
the challenge, and so exposes himself to reproach,
for fear of sin,* he is the valiant man. True courage
is such a presence of mind as enables a man rather
to suffer than to sin, to choose affliction rather than
iniquity, to pass by an affront though he lose by it,
and be hissed as a fool and a coward, rather than
engage in a sinful quarrel. He that can deny the
brutal lust of anger and revenge, rather than violate
the royal law of love and charity, (however contrary
the sentiments of the world may be,) is truly reso-
lute and courageous ; the Lord is with thee, thou
mighty man of valor. Fretting and vexing is the
fruit of the weakness of wom.en and children, but
much below the strength of a man, especially of the
.new man ihat is born from abo\^e. When our Lord
Jesus is described in his majesty, riding prosperous-
ly, the glory in which he appears is " truth, and
meekness, and righteousness." The courage of those
who overcoine this great red dragon of wrath and
revenge, by meek and patient suffering, and by not
loving " theif lives unto the death," will turn to the
best and most honorable account on the other side
the grave, and will be crowned with glory, and ho-
nor, and immortality; when those that caused their
terror in the land of the living fall ingloriously, and
* Paul showed more true valor when he said, I can do
nothing against the irnfh, than Goliath did when he defied
all the hobt of Israel. — Ward.
5
50 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
bear their shame with them that go down to the
pit. Ezek. 32 : 24.
It has the credit of a conformity to the best pat'
terns. The resemblance of those that are confess-
edly excellent and glorious, has in it an excellence
and glory. To be meek is to be like the greatest
saints, the elders that obtained a good report, and
were of renown in their generation. It is to be like
the angels, whose meekness in their converse with,
and ministration to the saints, is very observable in
the Scriptures ; nay, it is to be like the great God
himself, whose goodness is his glor}*", who is " slow
to anger,*' and in whom *' fury is not." We are then
followers of God, as dear children, when we " walk
in love," and are kind one to another, tender-heart-
ed, forgiving one another. The more quiet and se-
date we are, the more like we are to that God who,
though he be nearly concerned in all the affairs of
this lower Avorld, is far from being moved by its con-
vulsions and revolutions ; but as he was from eterni-
ty, so he is, and will be to eternity, infinitely happy in
the enjoyment of himself It is spoken to his praise
and glory, The Lord sits upon the floods, even when
the floods have lifted up their voices, have lifted up
their waves. Such is the rest of the eternal mind,
that he sits as firm and undisturbed upon the mov-
able flood as upon the immovable rock, the same
yesterday, to-day, and for ever ; and the meek and
quiet soul that preserves its peace and evenness
ITS EXCELLENCY. 51
against all the ruffling insults of passion and provo-
cation, does thereby somewhat participate of a divine
nature. 2 Pet. 1 : 4.
Let the true honor that attends this grace of meek-
ness recommend it to us : it is one of those things
that are honest, and pure, and lovely, and of good
report : a virtue that has a praise attending it — a
praise, not perhaps of men, but of God. It is the
certain v^^ay to get and keep, if not a great name,
yet a good name ; such as is better than precious
ointment. Though there be those that trample upon
the meek of the earth, and look upon them as Mi-
chal upon David, despising them in their hearts;
yet if this is to be vile, let us be yet more vile and
base in our own sight, and we shall find (as David
argues) that there are those of whom we shall be
" had in honor ;" for the word of Christ shall not
fall to the ground, that they " who humble them-
selves shall be exahed."
II. Consider how comfortable a meek and
quiet spirit is. What is true comfort and pleasure
but a quietness in our own bosom ? Those are most
easy to themselves who are so to all about them ;
while they that are a burden and a terror to others
will not be much otherwise to themselves. He that
would lead a quiet, must lead " a peaceable life."
The surest way to find rest to our souls is to " learn
of Him who is meek and lowly in heart." Let but
our moderation be known unto all men, and " the
52 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
peace of God, which passeth all understanding, will
keep our hearts and minds.'' Quietness is the thing
which even the busy, noisy part of the world pre-
tend to desire and pursue: they will be quiet, (this
is their claim,) yea, that they will, or they will know
why : they will not endure the least disturbance of
their quietness. But verily they go a mad way to
work in pursuit of quietness ; greatly to disquiet
themselves inwardly, and put their souls into a con-
tinual tumult, only to prevent or remedy some small
outward disquietude from others. But he that is
meek finds a sweeter, safer quietness, and much
greater comfort than that which they in vain pursue.
" Great peace have they " that love this law of love,
for *' nothing shall offend them." Whatever offence
is intended, it is not so interpreted, and by that means
peace is preserved. If there be a heaven anywhere
upon earth, it is in the meek and quiet soul that acts
and breathes above that lower religion which is in-
fested with storms and tempests, the harmony of
whose faculties is like the famed "music of the
spheres " — a perpetual melody. •' Mercy and truth
are met together, righteousness and peace have kiss-
ed each other."
A meek and quiet Christian must needs live very
comfortably, for he enjoys himself, — he enjoys his
friends, — he enjoys his God, — and he puts it out of
the reach of his enemies to disturb him in these en-
joyments.
ITS EXCEL1?ENCY. 53
I. He er.joys himself. Meekness is very nearly
allied to that "patisnce" which our Lord J»^sus pre-
scribes to us a^ necessary to the keeping* possession
0^ our own souis. How calm are the thoughts, how
serene are the rffections, how rational the pros-
pects, and how even and composed are all the re-
solves of the meek and quiet soul ! How free from
the pains and tortures of an angry man, who is dis-
seized and dispossessed even of himself, and while
he toils and vexes to make other things his own,
makes his own sou4 not so : his reason is in a mist ;
confounded and bewildered, it cannot argue, infer,
or foresee with any certainty. His affections are on
the full speed, hurried on with an impetus which is
as uneasy as it is hazardous. Who is that " good
man who is satisfied from himself?" Who but the
quiet man that needs not go abroad for satisfaction,
but having Christ dwelling in his heart by faith, has
in him that peace which the world can neither give
nor take away. While those, that are fretful and pas-
sionate rise up early, and sit up late, and eat the
bread of sorrow in pursuit of revengeful projects,
the God of peace gives to " his beloved sleep." The
sleep of the .neek is quiet, and sweet, and undisturb-
ed ; those that by innocency and mildness are the
sheep of Christ, shall be made to " lie down in
green pastures." That which would break an an-
gry man's heart, will not break a meek man's sleep.
It is promised that '* the meek shall eat and be sat-
54 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
.isfied." He has what sweetness is to be had in his
common comforts, while the angry man either cannot
eat, his stomach is too full and too high, (as A hab,
I Kings, 21 : 4;) or eats and is not satisfied, unless
he can be revenged, as Haman : " All this avails me
nothing,*' (though it was a banquet of wine with the
king and queen,) as long as Mordecai is unhanged.
It is spoken of as the happiness of the meek, that
they " delight themselves in the abundance of peace ;"
others may delight themselves in the abundance ot
u^alth — a poor delight that is interwoven with so
much trouble and disquietude ; but the meek, though
they have but a little wealth, have peace, abundance
of peace, peace like a river, and this such as they
have a heart to enjoy. They have light within : as
GEcolampadius said, Their souls are a Goshen in
the midst of the Egypt of this world ; they have a
light in their dwelling, when clouds and darkness
are round about them : this is the joy with which a
stranger doth not intermeddle. We may certainly
have (and we should do well to consider it) less in-
ward disturbance, and more true ease and satisfac-
tion in forgiving twenty injuries, than in avenging
one. No doubt Abigail intended more than she ex-
pressed, when, to persuade David to pass by the af-
front which Nabal had given him, she prudently
suggested, that hereafter " this shall be no grief unto
thee, nor offence of heart — not only so, but it would
be very sweet and easy, and comfortable in the re-
ITS EXCELLENCY. 55
flection. Such a rejoicing is it, especially in a suf-
fering day, to have the testimony of conscience, that
in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly
wisdom, but by the grace of God, particularly the
grace of meekness, we have had our conversation in
the world, and so have pleased God, and done our
duty. He did not speak the sense, no not of the so-
ber heathen, that said — Revenge is sweeter than life ;
for it often proves more bitter than death.
2. He enjoys his friends ; and that is a thing in
which lies much of the comfort of human life. Man
was intended to be a sociable creature, and a Chris-
tian much more so. But the angry man is unfit to
be so, that takes fire at every provocation ; fitter to
be abandoned to the lions' dens, and the mountains
of the leopards, than to go forth by the footsteps of
the flock. He that has his hand against every man,
cannot but have, with Ishmael's character, Ishmael's
fate, "every man's hand against him," and so he
lives in a state of war ; but meekness is the cement
of society, the bond of Christian communion ; it
planes and polishes the materials of that beautiful
fabric, and makes them lie close and tight, and the
living stones which are built up a spiritual house,
to be like the stones of the temple that Herod built,
all as one stone, whereas, " Hard upon hard " (as
the Spaniard's proverb is) " will never make a wall."
Meekness preserves among brethren that unity,
which is like the ointment upon the holy head, and
56 HENRY ON MEEKNESS
the dew upon the holy hill. Psalm 133 : 1, 2. In
our present state of imperfection there can be no
friendship, correspondence, or conversation main-
tained without mutual allowances; we do not yet
dwell with angels or spirits of just men made ^r^
feet, but with men subject to like passions. Now,
msekness teaches us to consider this, and to allow
accordingly ; and so di-stance and strangeness, feuds
and quarrels are happily prevented, and the begin-
nings of them crushed by a timely care. How ne-
cessary to true friendship it is to surrender our pas-
sions, and to subject them all to the laws of it, was,
perhaps, intimated by Jonathan's delivering to David
his sword, and his bow, and his girdle, all his mili-
Y tary habiliments, when he entered into a covenant
K-. of friendship with him.
^1 ^. 3. He enjoys his God; and that is most comfort-
/ . ^ able of all. It is thfi quintessence of all happiness,
and that without which all our other enjoyments are
insipid; for this, none are better qualified than those
Avho are arrayed with the ornament of a m^eek and
^^"'^' quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great
T > price. It was when the psalmist had newly con-
H' ^ quered an unruly passion, and composed himself)
that he lifted up his soul to God in that pious and
* pathetic breathing, " Whom have I in heaven but
thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire in
comparison of thee?" We enjoy God when we have
the evidences and the assurances of his favor, the
ITS EXCELLENCY. 57
tastes and tokens of his love ; when we experience
in ourselves the communication of his grace, and the
continued instances of his image stamped upon us ;
and this, those that are most meek and quiet have
usually in the greatest degree. In our wrath and
passion we give place to thjB devil, and so provoke
God to withdraw from us. Nothing grieves the
Holy Spirit of God, by whom we have fellowship
with the Father, more than " bitterness, and wrath,
and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking." But to
this man does the God of heaven look with a pecu-
liar regard, even to him that is poor, poor in spirit,
Isa. 66 : 2, — to him that is quiet, so the Syriac ; to
him that is meek, so the Chaldee. The great God
overlooks heaven and earth, to give a favorable look
to the meek and quiet soul. Nay, he not only looks
at such, but he " dwells " with them ; noting a con-
stant intercourse and communion between God
and humble souls. His secret is with them ; he
gives them more grace ; and they that thus dwell in
love, dwell in God, and God in them. The waters
were dark indeed, but they were quiet, when the
Spirit of God moved upon them, and out of them
produced a beautiful world.
This calm and sedate frame very much qualifies
and disposes us for the reception and entertainment
of divine visits ; sets bounds to the mountain on which
God is to descend, Ex. 19 : 12, that no interruption
may break in ; and charges the daughters of Jerusa-
68 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
lem, by the roes and the hinds of the field, (those
sweet, and gentle, and peaceable creatures,) not to
stir up or awake our love till he please. Cant. 2 : 7.
Some think it was for the quieting and composing
of his spirit, which seems to haiie been a little ruffled,
that Elisha called for the "minstrel," and then
*• the hand of the Lord came upon him." Never was
God more intimate with any mere man than he was
with Moses, the meekest of all the men on the earth ;
and it was required as a needful qualification of the
high priest, who was to draw near to minister, that
he should have compassion on the ignorant, and on
them that are out of the way. " The meek will He
guide in judgment " with a still small voice, w^hich
cannot be heard when the passions are loud and tu-
multuous. The angry man, when he awakes, is still
with the devil, contriving some malicious project ;
the meek and quiet man, when he awakes, is still
with God, solacing himself in his favor. " Return
unto thy rest, O my soul," says David, when he had
reckoned himself among the simple, that is, the
mild, innocent, and inoffensive people. Return to thy
Noah, so the word is, (for Noah had his name from
rest,) perhaps alluding to the rest which the dove
found with Noah in the ark, when she could find
none any where else. Those that are harmless, and
simple as doves, can with comfort return to God as
to their rest. It is excellently paraphrased by Mr.
Patrick, " God and thyself" (my soul) "enjoy; in
ITS EXCELLENCY. 59
quiet rest, freed from thy fears." It is said that *' the
Lord lifted up the meek ;" as far as their meekness
reigns, they are lifted up above the stormy region,
and fixed in a sphere perpetually calm and serene.
They are advanced indeed that are at home in God,
and live a life of communion with him, not only in
solemn ordinances, but even in the common acci-
dents and occurrences of the world. Every day is
a Sabbath-day, a day of holy rest with the meek and
quiet soul, as one of the days of heaven. As this
grace gets ground, the comforts of the Holy Ghost
grow stronger and stronger, according to that pre-
cious promise, *' the meek also shall increase their
joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall re-
joice in the Holy One of Israel."
4. It is not in the power of his enemies to disturb
and interrupt him in these enjoyments. His peace
is not only sweet, but safe and secure ; as far as he
acts under the law of meekness, it is above the reach
of the assaults of those that wish ill to it. He that
abides quietly under " the shadow of the Almighty,"
shall surely be delivered " from the snare of the fowl-
er." The greatest provocations that men can give
would not hurt us, if we did not, by our inordinate
and foolish concern, come too near them. We may
therefore thank ourselves if we be damaged. He
that has learned with meekness and quietness to for-
give injuries and pass them by, has found the best
and surest way of baffling and defeating them ; nay,
60 HJENRV ON ME£KMESS.
it is a kind of innocent revenge. It was an evidence
that Saul was actuated by another spirit, in that,
when the children of Belial despised him, and
brought him no presents, (hoping by that contempt
to give a shock to his infant government,) he *' held
his peace," and so neither his soul nor his crown re-
ceived any disturbance. Shimei, when he cursed
David, intended thereby to pour vinegar into his
wounds, and to add affliction to the afflicted ; but
David, by his meekness, preserved his peace, and
Shimei's design was frustrated. ** So let him curse ;"
alas, poor creature ! he hurts himself more than
David, who, while he keeps his heart from being
tinder to those sparks, is no more prejudiced by them
than the moon is by the foolish cur that barks at it.
The meek man's prayer is that of David, Ps. 61 : 2,
*' Lead me to the rock that is higher than I ;" and
there I can (as Mr. Norris expresses it)
-Smile to see
The shafts of fortune all <irop short of me.
The meek man is like a ship that rides at anchor
— is moved, but not removed ; the storm moves it,
(the meek man is not a stock or stone under provo-
cation,) but does not remove it from its port. It is
a grace that, in reference to the temptations of af-
front and injury, (as faith in reference to temptation
in general,) quenches the fiery darts of the wicked:
ITS EXCELLENCY. 61
it is armor of proof against the spiteful and enven-
omed arrows of provocation, and is an impregnable
v^all to secure the peace of the soul, where no thief
can break through to steal ; while the angry man
lays all his comforts at the mercy of every wasp
that will strike at him.
So that, upon the whole, it appears that the orna-
ment of a meek and quiet spirit is as easy as it is
comely.
III. Consider how profitable a meek and quiet
spirit is. All are intent on gain. It is for this that
they break their sleep and spend their spirits. Now,
it will be hard to convince such, that really there is
more to be obtained by meekness and quietness of
spirit, than by all this tumult and confusion. They
readily believe that " in all labor there is profit :"
but let God himself tell them, •* In returning and
rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and in confidence
shall be your strength ;" they Avill not take his word
for it, but they say, *' No, for we will flee upon
horses, and we will ride upon the swift." He that
came from heaven to bless us, has entailed a special
blessing upon the grace of meekness : " Blessed are
the meek;" and his saying they are blessed makes
them so ; for those whom he blesses, are blessed in-
deed : blessed, and they shall be blessed. Meekness
is gainful and profitable, as it is,
1. The condition of the promise : the meek *' shall
inherit the earth :" it is quoted from Ps. 37 : 11, and
6
62 HENRY ON MEEKNESS*
is almost the only express promise of temporal good
things in all the New Testament. Not that the
meek shall be put off with the earth only, then they
would not be truly blessed ; but they shall have that
as an earnest of something more. Some read it.
They shall inherit the land, that is, the land of Ca-
naan, which was not only a type and figure, but to
them that believed, a token and pledge of the hea-
venly inheritance. So that " a double Canaan " (as
Dr. Hammond observes) "is thought little enough
for the meek man ; the same felicity in a manner at-
tending him which we believe of Adam, if he had
not fallen — a life in paradise, and thence a trans-
plantation to heaven." Meekness is a branch of god-
liness, which has, more than other branches of it,
*' the promise of the life that now is." They shall
inherit the earth ; the sweetest and surest tenure is
that by inheritance, which is founded in sonship :
that which comes by descent to the heir, the law at-
tributes to the act of God, who has a special hand
in providing for the meek. They are his children,
and if children, then heirs. It is not always the
largest proportion of this world's goods that falls to
the meek man's share ; but whether he has more or
less, he has it by the best title, not by a common, but
a covenant- right: he holds in Capite* — in Christ,
our head, an honorable tenure.
♦ They inhabit the earth which they know to be theirs by
the divine allotment, and they are safe beneath the divine
ITS EXCELLENCY. 63
If he has but a little, he has it ff om God's love
and with his blessing, and behold all things are clean
and comfortable to him. The wise man has deter-
mined it, *• Better is a dry morsel and quietness
therewith, than a houseful of sacrifices with strife.
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a
stalled ox and hatred therewith." Be the fare ever
so scanty, he that has rule over his own spirit knows
how to make the best of it, and how to suck honey
out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock. Bless-
ed are the meek, for they shall wield the earth ; so
old Wickliff's translation reads it, (as I remember it
is quoted in the Book of Martyrs,) and very signifi-
cantly. Good management contributes more to our
comfort than great possessions. Whatever a meek
man has of this earth, he knows how to wield it, to
make a right and good use of it ; that is all in all.
^ Q,uiet souls so far inherit the earth, that they are
sure to have as much of it as is good for them, as
much as will serve to bear their charges through
this world to a better ; and who would covet more ?
The promise of God without present possession, is
better than possession of the world without an inte-
rest in the promise.
2. Meekness has in its own nature a direct ten-
dency to our present benefit and advantage. He that
protection ; this suffices them, till, in the last day, they ar-
rive at the full possession of their inheritance. The furious,
on the contrary, by grasping at all, lose every thing. Calv.
inMatt. 5; 5.
64 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
is thus wise, is wise for himself, even in this world,
and effectually consults his own interest.
Meekness has a good influence upon our health.
If envy be " the rottenness of the bones," meekness
is the preservation of therr.. The excesses and ex-
orbitances of anger stir up those bad humors in the
body which kindle and increase wasting and killing
diseases; but meekness governs those humors, and
so contributes very much to the good temper and
constitution of the body. When Ahab was sick for
Naboth's vineyard, meekness would soon have cured
him. Moses, the meekest of men, not only lived to
be old, but was then free from the infirmities of age ;
" his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated,"
which may be very much imputed to his meekness,
as a means. The days of old age would not be
such evil days, if old people did not, by their own
frowardness and unquietness, make them worse than
. otherwise they would be. Ungoverned anger in-
flames the natural heat, and so begets acute diseas-
es ; dries up the radical moisture, and so hastens
chronical decays. The body is called the sheath or
scabbard of the soul. Dan. 7:15, marg. How
often does an envious fretful soul, like a sharp knife,
cut its own sheath, and, as they say of the viper's
brood, eat its own way out ; all which meekness
happily prevents.
The quietness of the spirit will help to suppress
melancholy ; and this, as other of wisdom's precepts,
ITS EXCELLENCY. 65
will be health to the body and marrow to the bones ;
length of days, and long life, and peace they shall
add unto thee; but wrath kills the foolish man.
Job, 5 : 2.
It has a good influence upon our tvealth, the pre-
servation and increase of it. As in kingdoms, so in
families and neighborhoods, war begets poverty.
Many a one has brought a fair estate co ruin by
giving way to the efforts of an ungoverned anger,
that barbarous idol, to which even the children's por-
tions and the family's maintenance are oftentimes
sacrificed. Contention will as soon clothe a man
with rags as slothfulness ; that, therefore, which
keeps peace, does not a little befriend plenty. It
was Abraham's meek management of his quarrel
with Lot that secured both his own and his kins-
man's possessions, which otherwise would have
been an easy prey to the Canaanite and the Periz-
zite that dwelt then in the land. And Isaac, whom
I have sometimes thought to be the most quiet and
calm of all the patriarchs, and that passed the days
of his pilgrimage most silently, raised the greatest
estate of any of them ; he " grew until he became
very great;" and his son Jacob lost nothing in the
end by his meek and quiet carriage toward his
uncle Laban. Revenge is costly ; Haman bid
largely for it, no less than ten thousand talents of
silver. It is better to forgive, and save the charges.
Mr. Dod used to say, " Love is better than law ; for
6*
66 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
love is cheap, but law is chargeable." Those trades-
men are commonly observed to thrive most, that
make the least noise, that " with quietness work,"
and mind their own business.
It has a good influence upon our safety. In the
day of the Lord's anger, the meek of the earth are
most likely to be secured. It may be you shall be
hid ; (so runs the promise, Zeph. 2:3;) if any be,
you shall ; you stand fairest for special protection.
Meekness approaches to that innocence which is
commonly an effectual security against wrongs and
injuries. However some base and servile spirits
may insult over the tame and humble ; yet, with all
persons of honor, it is confessedly a piece of coward-
ice to attack an unarmed, unresisting man, that re-
sents not provocation.- '* And who is he that will
harm you if you be followers of that which is good ?"
Who draws his sword or cocks his pistol at the
harmless silent lamb, while every one is ready to do
it at the furious barking dog? Thus does the meek
man escape many of those perplexing troubles, those
woes, and sorrows, and wounds without cause,
which he that is passionate, provoking, and revenge-
ful pulls upon his own head. Wise men turn away
wrath, but a fool's lips enter into contention, and his
mouth calls for strokes. It is an honor to a man to
cease from strife, but every fool will be meddling to
his own hurt. An instance of this I remember Mr.
Baxter gives in his book of " Obedient Patience:"
ITS EXCELLENCY. 67
** Once going along London streets, a hectoring, rude
fellow jostled him ; he went on his way, and took no
notice of it: but the same man affronting the next
he met in Jike manner, he drew his sword and de-
manded satisfaction, and mischief was done." He
that would sleep, both in a whole skin and in a
whole conscience, must learn rather to forgive inju-
ries than to revenge them. The two goats that met
upon the narrow bridge (as it is in Luther's fable)
were both in danger, should they quarrel ; but were
both preserved by the condescension of one that lay
down and let the other go over him. It is the evil
of passion, that it turns our friends into enemies ; but
it is the excellency of meekness, that it turns our
enemies into friends, which is an effectual way of
conquering them. Saul, as inveterate an enemy as
could be, was more than once meUed by David's
mildness and meekness. " Is this thy voice, my son
David?" said he : "I have sinned ; return, my son
David." And after that Saul persecuted him no
more. 1 Sam. 27 : 4. The change that Jacob's
meekness made in Esau is no less observable. In
the ordinary dispensations of Providence some tell
us that they have found it remarkably true in times
of public trouble and calamity, that it has common-
ly fared best with the meek and quiet ; their lot has
been safe and easy, especially if compared with the
contrary fate of the turbulent and seditious. Whoso
is wise and observes these things will understand
68 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
the loving-kindness cf the Lord to the quiet in the
land, against whom we read indeed of plots laid and
deceitful matters devised; Ps. 35 : 20 ; 37 : 12, 14;
but those by a kind and overruling Providence are
ordinarily baffled and made successless. Thus does
this grace of meekness carry its own recompense
alon^ with it, and in keeping this commandment, as
well as after keeping it, " there is a great reward."
IV. Consider what a preparative it is for
something further. It is a very desirable thing to
stand complete in all the will of God, Gol. 4 : 12, to
be fitted and furnished for every good work, to be
made ready, a people prepared for the Lord. A liv-
ing principle of grace is the best preparation for the
whole will of God. Grace is establishing to the
heart, it is the root of the matter, and a good founda-
tion for the time to come. This grace of meekness
is particularly a good preparation for what lies be-
fore us in this world.
L It makes us fit for any duty. It puts the soul
in frame, and keeps it so for all religious exercises.
There was no noise of axes and hammers in the
building of the temple : tkose are most fit for temple
service that are most quiet and composed. The
work of God is best done when it is done without
noise.
Meekness qualifief; and disposes us to hear an(?
receive the word : when malice and envy are Jaid
aside, and we are like new-born babes for innocence
ITS EXCELLENCY. 69
and inoffensiveness, then we are most fit to receive
the sincere milk of the word, and are most likely to
grow thereby. Meekness prepares the soil of the
heart for the seed of the word, as the husbandman
opens and breaks the clods of his ground, and makes
plain the face thereof, and then casts in " the princi-
pal wheat and the appointed barley." Christ's mi-
nisters are fishers of men, but we seldom fish suc-
cessfully in these troubled waters. The voice that
Eliphaz heard, was ushered in with a profound si-
lence, and in slumberings upon the bed — a quiet
place and posture. God " opens the ears of men, and
sealeth their instruction."
Prayer is another duty which meekness disposes
us rightly and acceptably to perform. We do not
lift up pure hands in prayer, if they be not *' without
wrath." Prayers made in wrath are written in gall,
and can never be pleasing to, or prevailing with the
God of love and peace. Our rule is, " First go and
be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and ofl^er
thy gift." And if w^e do not take this method, though
we seek God in a due ordinance, we do not seek
him in the due order.
The Lord's day is a day of rest, and none are fit
for it but those who are in a quiet frame, whose souls
have entered into that present sabbatism which the
Gospel has provided for the people of God. The
Lord's Supper is the Gospel-feast of unleavened
bread, which must be kept, not with the old leaven
70 HENRY ON MBEKNEgS.
of wrath, and malice, and wickedness, but with the
unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.*
God made a gracious visit to Abraham, and after
that the strife betwixt him and Lot was over, in
which he had discovered so much mildness and hu-
mility. The more carefully we preserve the com-
munion of saints, the fitter we are for communion
with God. It is observable, that the sacrifices which
God appointed under the law, were not ravenous
beasts and birds of prey, but calves, and kids, and
lambs, and turtle-doves, and young pigeons, all of
them emblems of meekness, and gentleness, and in-
offensiveness ; for with such sacrifices God is well
pleased. This quietness of spirit contributes very
much to the constant steadiness and regularity of a
religious conversation. Hot and eager spirits, that
are ready to take fire at every thing, are usually
very inconstant in their profession, and of great in-
consistency with themselves ; like a man in an ague-
fit, sometimes burning with heat, and sometimes
shivering for cold ; or like those that gallop in the
beginning of their journey, and tire before the end
of it; whereas the meek and quiet Christian is still
the same ; and, by keeping to a constant rate, makes
* How can we attain the peace of God without peace 1
How can we attain the remission of our sins without remit-
ting the sins of others 1 How can he that is angry with his
brother, pacify his Father, who, from the first, forbids us to
be angry 1 Terltd. de Orat. c. 10.
ITS EXCELLENCY. 71
progress. If you would have one foot of the com-
pass go even round the circumference, you must be
sure to keep the other fixed and quiet in the centre,
for your strength is to sit still.
2. It makes us fit for any relation into which God
in his providence may call us. Those who are quiet
themselves, cannot but be easy to all that are about
them ; and the nearer any are to us in relation and
converse, the more desirable it is that we should be
easy to them. Relations are various, as superiors,
inferiors, and equals ; he that is of a meek and quiet
spirit is fitted for any of them. Moses was forty years
a courtier in Egypt, forty years a servant in Midian,
and forty years a king in Jeshurun; and his meek-
ness qualified him for each of these posts, and still
he held fast his integrity. There are various duties
requisite, according as the relation is, and various
graces to be exercised ; but this of meekness is the
golden thread that must run through all. If man be
a sociable creature, the more he has of humanity
the more fit he is for society. Meekness would great-
ly help to preserve the wisdom and due authority of
superiors, the obedience and due subjection of infe-
riors, and the love and mutual kindness of equals. A
calm and quiet spirit receives the comfort of the re-
lation most thankfully, studies the duty of the rela-
tion most carefully, and bears the inconvenience of
the relation (for there is no unmixed comfort under
the sun) most cheerfully and easily. I have heard
72 HENRY ON MEEKNESS,
of a married couple, who, though they were both
naturally of a hasty temper, yet lived very comfort-
ably in that i^elation, by observing an agreement
made between themselves, *' Never both to be angry
together :" an excellent law of meekness, which, if
faithfully obeyed, would prevent many of those
breaches among relations which occas/on so much
guilt and grief, and are seldom healed without a
scar. It wr;.s part of the good advice given by a pious
and ingenious father to his children newly entered
into the conjugal relation:
Doth one speak lare 1 t'other with water come,
Is one provok'd 1 be t'other soft or dumb.
And thus one wise, both ha;^ py. But where wrath
and anger are indulged, all relations are embittered,
those that should be helps become as thorns in our
eyes and goads in our sides. Two indeed are bet-
ter than one, and yet it is better to dwell alone in
the wilderness, than with a contentious and angry
relation, who is like " a continual dropping in a
very rainy day."
3. It makes us fit for any condition, according as
the vwse God shall please to dispose of us. Those
who, through grace, are enabled to compose and
quiet themselves, are fit to live in this world, where
we meet with so much every day to discompose and
disquiet us. In general, whether the outward con-
dition be prosperous or adverse, whether the world
ITS EXCELLENCY. 73
smile or frown upon us, a meek and quiet spirit is
neither lifted up with the one nor cast down with
the other, but is still in the same poise : in prosperi-
ty humble and condescending, the estate rising, but
the mind not rising with it ; in adversity encouraged
and cheered — cast dovvH, but not in despair. St. Paul,
who had learned in every estate " to be content, knew
how to be abased, and knew how to abound ; every
where, and in all things, he was instructed both to
be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suf-
fer need." Changes without, made none within. It is
a temper Avhich, as far as it has the ascendant in the
soul, makes every burden light, by bringing the
mind to the condition, when the condition is not in
every thing brought to the mind. Prosperity and
adversity have each of them their particular tempta-
tion to peevishness and frowardness ; the former by
making men imperious, the latter by making them
impatient. Against the assaults of each of these
temptations the grace of meekness will stand upon
the guard. Being to pass through this world " by
honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report,"
that is, through a great variety of conditions and of
treatment, we have need of that long-suffering and
kindness, and love unfeigned, which will be " tho
armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the
left." Meekness and quietness will fortify the soul on
each hand, and suit it to the several entertainments
which the world gives us ; like a skillful pilot that,
7
74 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
from which point of the compass soever the wind
blows, will shift his sails accordingly; and knows
either how to get forward, and weather his point
with it, or to lie by without damage. It is the conti-
nual happiness of a quiet temper to make the best
of that which is.*
4. It makes us fit for a day o( per stent ion. If
tribulation and affliction arise because of the word,
(which is no foreign supposition,) the meek and
quiet spirit is armed for it, so as to preserve its peace
and purity at such a time, which are our two great
concerns, that we may neither torment ourselves
with a base fear, nor pollute ourselves with a base
compliance. We are accustomed to say, we "will
give any thing for a quiet life ;" I say, any thing for
a quiet conscience, which will be best secured under
the shield of a meek and quiet spirit, which doth not
*' render railing for railing," nor aggravate the
threatened trouble, nor represent it to itself in its
most formidable colors, but has learned to put a but
\ipon the power of the most enraged enemies ; they
can but kill the body ; and to witness the most righte-
ous testimony with nieekness and fear, like our
Master, who, " when he sufiered, threatened not, but
committed himself to Him that judgeth righteously."
Suffering saints (as the suffering Jesus) are com-
♦ Seek not to adjust events to your will so much as to ad-
just your will to events ; thus you will act a becoming part.
Epkt. c. 13.
ITS EXCELLENCY. 75
pared to sheep, dumb before the shearer, nay, dumb
before the butcher. The meek and quiet Christian,
if 'duly called to it, can tamely part, not only with
the wool, but with the blood; not only with the
estate, but with the life, and even then rejoice with
joy unspeakable and full of glory. Angry, froward
people, in a day of rebuke, are apt to pull crosses
upon themselves by needless provocations; or to
murmur, and complain, and fly in the face of instru-
ments, and give unbecoming language, contrary to
the laws of our holy religion and the example of our
Master, and so get more hurt than good by their
suffering. Whenever we have the honor to be per-
secuted for righteousness' sake, our great care must
be to glorify God and to adorn our profession, which
is done most efliectually by meekness and mildness,
under the hardest censures and the most cruel usage ;
so manifesting that we are indeed under the power
and influence of that holy religion for which we
think it worth our while to suffer.
5. It makes us fit for death and eternity. The
grave is a quiet place ; " there the wicked cease from
troubling." Those that were most troublesome are
there bound to the peace ; and " their hatred and
envy " are there •* perished." Whether we will or
no, in the grave we shall lie still and be quiet.
Job, 3:13. What a great change then must it needs
be to the unquiet, the angry, and litigious I and what
a mighty shock will that sudden, forced rest give
76 HENRY ON »MEEKNBSS.
them, after such a violent, rapid motion ! It is there-
fore our wisdom to compose ourselves for the grave ;
to prepare ourselves for it, by adapting and accom-
modating ourselves to that which is likely to be our
long home. This is dymg daily, quieting ourselves.
for death will shortly quiet us.
The meek and quiet soul is, at death, let into that
rest which it has been so much laboring after ; and
how welcome must that needs be ! Thoughts of death
and the grave are very agreeable to those who love
to be quiet ; for then and there " they shall enter into
peace," and " rest in their beds."
After death we expect the judgment, than which
nothing is more dreadful to them that are " conten-
tious." The coming of the master brings terror along
with it to those who "smite their fellow-servants;"
but those that are meek and quiet are likely to have
their plea ready, their accounts stated, and when-
ever it comes, it will be no surprise to them : to those
whose " moderation is known to all men," it will be
no ungrateful news to hear that " the Lord is at
hand." It is therefore prescribed as that which
ought to be our constant care, that Vv^henever our
Master comes, we may "be found of him in peace,"
that is, in a peaceable temper. Blessed is that ser-
vant whom his Lord when he comes shall iind in
such a frame. " A good man," says the l-.;te excel-
lent archbishop Tillotson, in his preface to his book
of Family Religion, " would be loth to be taken out
ITS EXCELLENCY. Iff
of the world reeking hot from a sharp contention
with a perverse adversary ; and not a little out of
countenance to find himself in this temper translated
into the calm and peaceable regions of the blessed,
where nothing but perfect charity and good-will
reigns for ever." Heaven is a quiet place, and none
are fit for it but quiet people. The heavenly Canaan;
that land of peace, would be no heaven to those that
delight in war. The turbulent and unquiet would be
out of their element, like a fish upon dry ground, iit
those calm regions.
They are the sheep of Christ, (such as are pa-
tient and inofl^ensive,) that are called to inherit the
kingdom; without are dogs that bite and devour.
Rev. 22: 15.
They are the wings of a dove, not those of a hawk'
or eagle, that David would fly upon to his desired
rest. Psalm 55 : 6.
Now lay all this together, and then consider whe-
ther there be not a real excellency in this meekness
and quietness of spirit, which highly recommends it
to all that love either God or themselves, or have
any sensible regard to their own comfort, either in
this world or in that which is to come*
►■
?•
78 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
CHAPTER III.
WANT OF MEEKNESS LAMENTED. '
And now, have we not reason to lament the want-
ol the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit among
those that profess religion, and especially in our own
bosoms 7 If this be Christianity, how little is there
of the thing, even among those that make great pre-
tensions to the name ! Surely, (as one said in ano-
ther case,) either this is not Gospel, or these are not
gospel-professors. And O how bare and uncomely
does profession appear for want of this adorning !
When the Israelites had stripped themselves of their
ornaments to furnish up a golden calf, it is said they
were " made naked to their shame." How naked
are we (like Adam when he had sinned) for want
of this ornament. It is well if it be to the shame of
true repentance.
I am not teaching you to judge and censure others
m this patter, there is too much of that to be found
among us; we are quick-sighted enough to spy
faults in others, the transports of whose passions we
should interpret favorably. But we have all cause,
more or less, to condemn ourselves, and confess
guilt in this matter. In many things we all offend,
and perhaps in this as much as in any, coming short
of the law of meekness and quietness.
WANT OF IT LAMENTED. 79
We are called Christians, and it is our privilege
and honor that we are so : we name the name of the
meek and lowly Jesus, but how few are actuated by
his spirit, or conform to his example ! It is a shame
that any occasion should be given to charge it upon
professors, who, in other things, are most strict and
sober, that in this they are most faulty ; and that
many who pretend to conscience and devotion,
should indulge themselves in a peevish, froward,
and morose temper and conversation, to the great
reproach of that worthy name by which we are
called. May we not say, as that Mahommedan did
when a Christian prince had perfidiously broke his
league wuh him, " O Jesus ! are these thy Chris-
tians !"
It is the manifest design of our holy and excel-
lent religion to smooth, and soften, and sweeten our
temper ; and is it not a wretched thing that any
who profess it should be soured, and embittered,
and less conversible and fit for human society than
others? He was looked upon as a very good man
in his day, (and not without cause,) who yet had
such an unhappy temper, and was sometimes so
transported with passion that his friend would say
of him, " He had grace enough for ten men, and yet
not enough for himself" The disciples of Jesus
Christ did not know " what manner of spirit they
were of," — so apt are we to deceive ourselves, espe-
cially when these extravagances shroud therrjselves
80 HENRY ON MEEKNESS,
under the specious and plausible pretence of zeal
for God and religion. But yet the fault is not to be
laid upon the profession, or the strictness and sin-
gularity of it in other things which are praisewor-
thy ; nor may we think the worse of Christianity
for any such blemish : we know very well that
the wisdom that is from above is peaceable and gen-
tle, and easy to be entreated, and all that is sweet,
and amiable, and endearing, though she is not here-
in justified of all who call themselves her children.
But the blame must be laid upon the corruption and
folly of the professors themselves, who are not so per-
fectly delivered into the mould of Christianity as
they should be; but neglect their ornament, and pros-
titute their honor, and suffer the authority of their
graces to be trampled upon. They let *' fire go out
of the rod of their branches, which devour their
fruit;" so that there is no meekness as a strong rod,
to be a sceptre to rule in the soul, w*hich is "a la-
mentation, and shall be for a lamentation."
And yet, blessed be God, even in this corrupt and
degenerate world there are many \vho appear in the
excellent ornament of a meek and quiet spirit ; and
some, w^hose natural temper is hasty and choleric,
yet have been enabled, by the power of divine grace,
to show in a good conversation their works with
meekness and wisdom. It is not so impracticable
as some imagine to subdue these passions, and to
preserve the peace of the soul, even in a stormy day.
WANT OF IT LAMENTED. 81
But that we may each of us judge ourselves, and
find matter for repentance herein, I shall only men-
tion those instances of irregular deportment towards
our particular relations which evidence the want of
meekness and quietness of spirit.
1. Superiors are commonly very apt to chide, and
that is for want of meekness. It is spoken to the
praise of Him who is the great ruler of this per-
verse and rebellious 'vorld, that he "will not al-
ways chide." But how many little rulers are there
of families and petty societies that herein are very
unlike him, for they are always chiding! Upon
every little default they are put into a flame, and
transported beyond due bounds : easily provoked,
either for no cause at all, or for very small cause ;
greatly provoked, and very outrageous and unrea-
sonable when they are provoked. Their carriage
is fiery and hasty, their language is scurrilous and
indecent ; they care not Avhat ihey say, nor what
they do, nor whom they insult; they are "such
sons of Belial that a man cannot speak to them.'*
One had as good meet a bear robbed of her whelps
as meet them. These require meekness. Hus-
bands should not be bitter against their Avives. Pa-
rents should not provoke their children. Masters
must forbear threatening. These are the rules, but
how few are ruled by them ! The undue and intem-
perate passion of superiors goes under the excuse ot
necessary strictness, and the maintaining of autho-
82 , HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
rity, and the education and control of children and
servants. But surely every little failure needs not
be animadverted upon, but rather should be passed
by; or if the fault must be reproved and corrected,
luay it not be done without so much noise and cla-
mor? Is this the product of a meek and quiet spi.
rit ? Is this the best badge of your authority you
have to put on ? And are these the ensigns of your
honor ? Is there no other way of making your in-
feriors know their place but by putting them among
the dogs of your flock, and threatening them as
such? Not that I am against government and good
order in families, and such reproofs as are necessary
to the support and preservation of it, and those so
sharpened as some tempers require and call for.
But while you are governing others, pray learn to
govern yourselves, and do not disorder your own
souls under pretence of keeping order in your fa-
milies; for though you yourselves may not be aware
of it, yet it is certain that by those indications of
vour displeasure which transgress the laws of
meekness, you do but render yourselves contempti-
ble and ridiculous, and rather prostitute than pre-
serve your authority. Though your children dare
not tell you so, yet perhaps they cannot but think
that you arc very unfit to command yourselves.*
Time was w^hen you w^ere yourselves children, and
♦ No one is fit to rule, except he is willing to be govern-
ed.— Sencca»
WANT OF IT LAMENTED. 83
scholars, and perhaps servants and apprentices ;
and so, if you will but allow yourselves the liberty
of reflection, you cannot but know the heart of an
inferior, Exod. 23 : 9, and should therefore treat
those that are now under you as you yourselves
then wished to be treated. A due expression of
displeasure, so much as is necessary to the amend-
ment of what is amiss, will very well consist with
meekness and quietness. And your gravity and
awful composedness therein will contribute very
much to the preserving of your authority, and will
command respect abundantly more than your noise
and chiding. Masters of families and masters of
schools too, have need, in this matter, to behave
themselves wisely, so as to avoid the two extremes,
that of Eli's foolish indulgence on the one hand, and
that of Saul's brutish rage on the other ; and for at-
taining this golden mean, wisdom is profitable to
direct.
2. Inferiors are commonly very apt to complain.
If every thing be not just to their mind, they are
fretting and vexing, and their hearts are hot within
them : they are uneasy in their place and station,
finding fault with every thing that is said or done
to them. Here is wanting a quiet spirit, which
would reconcile us to the post we are in, and to all
the difficulties of it, and would make the best of the
present state, though it be attended with many in-
conveniences. Those unquiet people, whom the
84 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
apostle Jude in his epistle compares to raging;'
waves of the sea, and Avandering stars, were mur-*
murers and complainers — blamers of their lot — so
the word signifies. It is an instance of unquiet-
ness, to be ever and anon quarreling with our allot-
ment. Those wives wanted a meek and quiet spi-
rit, who " covered the altar of the Lord with tears ;"
not tears of repentance for sin, but tears of vexation
at the disappointments they met in their outward
condition. Hannah's meekness and quietness was
in some degree wanting, when she fretted, and wept,
and would not eat ; but prayer composed her spirit ;
her countenance was no more sad. It was the un-
quietness of the spirit of the elder brother in the pa-
rable, that quarreled so unreasonably with his fa-
ther for receiving and entertaining the penitent pro-
digal. Those that are given to be uneasy, will ne-
ver want something or other to complain of It is
true, though not so readily apprehended, that the
sullenness, and murmuring, and silent frets of chil-
dren and servants, are as great a transgression of
the law of meekness, as the more open, noisy, and
avowed passions of their parents and masters. We
find the king's chamberlains wroth with the king.
And Cain's quarrel with God himself for accepting
Abel, was interpreted as anger by God. *' Why art
thou wroth, and why is thy countenance fallen ?"
The sour looks of inferiors are as certain an indi-
cation of anger resting in the bosom, as the disdain-
WANT OF IT LAMKXTED. 85
ful looks of superiors; and how many such in-
stances of discontent there have been, especially
under a continual cross, our own consciences may
perhaps tell us. It is the want of meekness only
that makes those whom Divine Providence has put
under the yoke, children of Belial, that is, impatient
of the yoke.
3. Equals are commonly very apt to clash and
contend. It is for want of meekness that there are
in the church so many pulpit and paper-quarrels,
such strifes of words and perverse disputings ; that
there are in the state such factions and parties, and
between them such animosities and heart-burnings ;
that there are in neighborhoods such strifes and
brawls, and vexatious law-suits, or such distances,
and estrangements, and shyness one of another ;
thai there are in families envies and quarrels among
the children and servants, crossing, thwarting, and
finding fault one with another ; and that brethren,
that dwell together, do not, as they should, dwell to-
gether in unity. It is for want of meekness that
we are so impatient of contradiction in our opinions,
desires, and designs, that we must have our own
saying, right or wrong, and every thing our own
way ; that we are so impatient of competitors, not
enduring that any should stand in our light, or
share in that work of honor which we would en-
gross to ourselves ; that we are so impatient of con-
tempt, so quick in our apprehension and resentment
8
86 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
of the least slight or affront ; and so pregnant in our
fancy of injuries, where really there are none, or
none intended. They are not only loud and pro-
iessed contentions that evidence a want of meek-
ness, but also those silent alienations in affection
and conversation which make a less noise; little
piques and prejudices conceived, which men are
themselves so ashamed of that they w^ill not own
them: these show the spirit disturbed, and wanting
the ornament of meekn<.ss. In a vvoid, willfully do-
ing any thing to disquiet others; slandering, back-
biting, whispering, tale-bearing, or the like, is too
plain an evidence that we are not ourselves rightly
disposed to be quiet.
And now, may we not all remember our faults
this day ? and, instead of condemning others, though
ever so faulty, should we not each of us bewail be-
fore the Lord that we have been so little actuated by
this excellent spirit, and repent of all we have at any
time said or done contrary to the law of meekness ?
Instead of going about to extenuate and excuse our
&;inful passions, let us rather aggravate them, and
lay a load upon ourselves lor them: "So foolish
h".^e i been and ignorant, and so like a beast before
f lod." Think how often we have appeared before
God and the world without our ornament, without
our livery, to our shame. God kept account of the
particular instances of the unquietness of Israel:
** They have tempted me (says he) now these ten
WANT OF IT LAMENTED. 87
times.'* Conscience is God's register, that recor^p
all our miscarriages: even what we say and do in
our haste is not so quick as to escape its observation.
Let us, therefore, be often opening that book now,
for our conviction and humiliation, or else il will be
opened shortly to our confusion and condemnation.
But if we would judge ourselves, we should not be
judged of the Lord. May we not all say, as Jo-
seph's brethren did, (and perhaps some are, as they
were, in a special manner called to say it by hum-
bling providences,) '' We are verily guilty concern-
ing our brother." Such a time, in such a com-
pany, upon such an occasion, I wanted meekness ;
my spirit was provoked, and I spake unadvisedly
with my lips, and now I remember it against my-
self. Nay, have not 1 lived a life of unquietness in
the family, in the neighborhood, always in the fire
of contention, as in my element, and breathing
threatenings? And by so doing have not I disho-
nored my God, discredited my profession, disturbed
ray soul, grieved the blessed Spirit, and been to many
an occasion of sin ? And for all this ought not I to
be greatly humbled and ashamed ? Before we can
put on the ornament of a meek nnd quiet spirit, we
must wash in the laver of true repentance, not only
for our gross and open extravagances of passion, but
for all our neglects and omissions of the duties of
meekness.
S8 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
%
CHAPTER IV.
ENCOURAGEMENTS TO MEEKNESS SCRIPTURE
PRECEPTS.
Have we not reason to labor and endeavor, since
there is such a virtue, and such a praise to attain
these things ? Should we not lay out ourselves to
the utmost for this ornament of a me^k and quiet
spirit ? For your direction in this endeavor, if you
be indeed willing to be directed, I shall briefly lay
before you some Scrijjture prr.cepts concerning
meekness : some patterns of it ; some particular in-
stances in which we have special need of it ; some
good principles that we should abide by ; and some
good practices that we should abound in, in order
to our growth in this grace. In opening thesu
things, we will endeavor to keep close to the law,
and to the testimony.
If we lay the word of God before us for our
rule, and wall be ruled by it, Ave shall find tho
command of God making meekness and quietness
as much our duty as they are our ornament. W(j
are there told, as the will of God, that we must seek
meekness.
1. This command we have Zeph. 2:3; and it ia
especially directed to the meek : " Seek ye the Lord,
all ye meek of the earth : — seek meekness." Though
SCRIPTURE PRECEPTS. W
they were meek, and were pronounced so by Him that
searches the heart, yet they must seek meekness;
which teaches us that those who have much of this
grace, have still need of more, and must desire and en-
deavor after more. He that sits down content with
the grace he has, and is not pressing forward towards
perfection, and striving to grow in grace, to get the
habit of it more strengthened and confirmed, and
the operation of it more quickened and invigorated,
it is to be feared has no true grace at all ; and that,
though he sit ever so high and ever so easy in his
own opinion, he u^ill yet sit down short of heaven.
Where there is life, one way or other there will be
growth, till we come to the perfect man. "He that
hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger."
Paul was a man of great attainments in grace, and
yet we find him "forgetting the things that are be-
hind, and reaching forth to those that are before."
Those who took joyfully the spoiling of their goods,
are yet told that they " have need of patience."
Thus the meek of the earth (who being on the
earth, are in a state of infirmity and imperfection, of
trial and temptation) have still need of meekness;
that is, they must learn to be yet more calm and
composed, more steady, and even, and regular in
the government of their passions, and in the man-
agement of their whole conversation. They who
have silenced all angry words, must learn to sup-
press the first risings and motions of angry thoughts.
8*
90 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
It is observable that when the meek of the earth
are especially concerned to seek meekness, when
the day of the Lord's anger hastens on, when the
times are bad, and desolating judgments are break-
ing in, then we have occasion for all the meekness
Ave have, and all we can get, and all is little enough ;
meekness toward God the author, and towards men
the instruments of our trouble ; meekness to bear
the trial, and to bear our testimony in the trial.
There is sometimes an "hour of temptation," a cri-
tical day, when the exercise of meekness is the work
of the day : sometimes the children of men are more
than ordinarily provoking, and then the children of
God have more than commonly need of meekness.
When God is justly angry, and men are unjustly
angry, when our mother's children are angry with
us, and our father angry too, there is anger enough
stirring, and then " Blessed are the meek," that are
careful to keep possession of their souls when they
can keep possession of nothing else.
Now the way prescribed for the attainment of
meekness is to seek it. Ask it of God, pray for it :
it is a fruit of the Spirit, it is given by the God of all
grace, and to him we must go for it. It is a brancli
of that Avisdom which he that lacketh must ask of
God, and it shall be given him. The God we ad-
dress is called "the God of patience and consola-
tion;" and he is the God of consolation, because the
God of patience, (for the more patient we are, the
SCRIPTURE PRECEPTS. 91
more we are comforted under our afflictions,) and
ag such we must look to him, when we come to him
for grace to make us " like-minded," that is, meek
and loving one towards another, which is the apos-
tle's errand at the throne of grace. God's people
are, and should be, a generation that " covet the
best gifts," and make their court to the best Giver,
who never said to the wrestling seed of Jacob, Seek
in vain; but has given us an assurance firm enough
for us to build upon, and rich enough for us to en-
courage ourselves with — Seek and ye shall find.
What would we more? Seek meekness, and ye
shall find it.
The promise annexed is very encouraging to the
meek of the earth that seek meekness : " it may be
you shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger."
Though it be but a promise Avith an " it may be,"
yet it ministers abundance of comfort : God's pro-
babilities are better than the world's certainties ; and
the meek ones of the earth that hope in his merc)^
and can venture their all upon an intimation of his
good-will, shall find to their comfort, that when God
brings a flood upon the world of the ungodly, he
has an ark for all his Noahs, his resting, quiet peo-
ple, in which they shall be hid, it may be, from the
calamity itself, at least from the sting and malignity
of it; " HID," (as Luther said,) " either in heaven or
under heaven, either in the possession or under th*
protection of heaven."
92 HENRY OX meekness;
2. We must jput on meekness. *' Put on therefore
(as the elect of God, holy and beloved) — meekness."
It is one of the members of the new man, which we
must put on. Put it on as armor, to keep provoca-
tions from the heart, and so to defend the vitals.
They that have tried it will say it is "armor ot
proof" When you are putting on " the whole armor
of God," do not forget this. Put it on as attire, as
your necessary clothing, which you cannot go with-
out ; look upon yourselves as ungirt, undrest, un-
blest without it. Put it on as a livery garment, by
which you may be known to be the disciples of the
meek, and humble, and patient Jesus, and to belong
to that peaceable family. Put it on as an ornament,
as a robe and a diadem, by which you may be both
beautified and dignified in the e3'es of others. Put it
on as the elect of God, holy and beloved, because
you are so in profession ; and that you may approve
yourselves so in truth and reality, be clothed Avith
meekness as the elect of God, a choice people, a
chosen people, whom God has set apart for himself
from the rest of the world, as holy, sanctified to God,
sanctified by him : study these graces, which put
such a lustre upon holiness, and recommend it to
tho.se that are without, as beloved, beloved of God,
beloved of man, beloved of your ministers : for love's
sake put on meekness. What winning, persuasive
rhetoric is here ! enough, one would think, to smooth
the rouo-hest soul, and to soften and sweeten the
SCRIPTURE PRECEPTS. 93
most obstinate heart ! Meekness is a grace of the
Spirit's working, a garment of his preparing ; but
we must put it on, that is, Ave must lay our souls un-
der the commanding power and influence of it. Put
it on, not as a loose outer garment, to be put ofi^in
hot weather, but let it cleave to us, as the girdle
cleaves to a man's loins ; so put it on as to reckon
ourselves naked to our shame without it.
3. We must follow after meekness. — This pre-
cept Ave haA^e 1 Tim. 6:11. Meekness is there put
in opposition to those foolish and hurtful lusts that
Timothy must flee from : " Thou, O man of God,
flee these things, and folloAV ^Iter righteousness,
godliness, faith, loA^e, patience, meekness." See Avhat
good company it is ranked Avith. Every Christian
is in a sense a man of God, (though Timothy is
called so as a minister,) and those that belong to
God are concerned to be and do so as to recommend
themseh^es to him, and his religion to the world ;
therefore let the men of God folloAv after meekness.
The occasions and proA'ocations of anger often set
our meekness at a distance from us, and aa^o have it
to seek Avhen aa^c have most need of it ; but Ave must
foUoAv after it, and not be taken off from the pursuit
by any diversion AvhatsoeA^er. While others are in-
genious and industrious enough in folloAving after
malice and revenge, projecting and prosecuting an-
gry designs, be you Avise and dilig'ent to preserA^e
the peace, both Avithin doors and Avithout. Follow-
94 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
ing meekness bespeaks a sincere desire and a seri-
ous endeavor to get the mastery of our passion, and
to check, govern, and moderate all the motions of it.
Though we cannot fully attain this mastery, yet we
must follow after it, and aim at it. Follow meek-
ness, that is, as much as in you lies live peaceably
with all men, endeavoring to keep the unity of the
spirit : we can but make one side of the bargain ; if
others will quarrel, yet let us be peaceable; if others
will strike fire, that is their fault; let not us be as
tinder to it.
4. We must show all meekness unto all men. —
This is one of the subjects which Paul directs a
young minister to preach upon. *' Put them in mind
to show all meekness." It is that which we have
need to be often reminded of. Meekness is there op-
posed to brawling and clamor, which is the fruit
and product of our own anger, and the cause and
provocation of the anger of others. Observe, it is
" all meekness " that is here recommended to us, all
kinds of meekness — bearing meekness, and forbear-
ing meekness; qualifying meekness, and conde-
scending meekness ; forgiving meekness ; the meek-
ness that endears our friends, and that which recon-
ciles our enemies; the meekness of authority over
inferiors; the meekness of obedience to superiors;
and the meekness of wisdom towards all. *' All
meekness," is meekness in all relations, in reference
to all injuries, all sorts of provocation, meekness iu
SCRIPTURE PRECEPTS. 9$
all the branches and instances of it: in this piece of
our obedience we must be universal. Observe fur-
ther, we must not only have meekness, all meekness,
but we must show it, by drawing out this grace into
exercise as there is occasion : in our words, in our
looks, in our actions, in every thing that falls under
the observation of men, we must manifest that we
have indeed a regard to the law of meekness, and
that we make conscience of what we say and do,
when we are provoked. We must not only have
the law of love written in our hearts, but in our
tongues too we must have *'the law of kindness."
And thus the tree is known by its fruit. This light
must shine, that others may see the good works of
it, and hear the good words of it too, not to glorify
us, but to glorify our Father ; we should study to ap-
pear, in all our converse, so mild, and gentle, and
peaceable, that all who see us may witness for us that
we are of the meek of the earth. We must not only
be moderate, but " let our moderation be known."
. He that is in this respect a wise man, let him show
it in the " meekness of wisdom." What are good
clothes worth if they be not worn ? Why has the
gervant a fine livery given him, but to show it for
the honor of his master, and of the family he belongs
to? How can we say we are meek, if we do not
show it ? The showing of our meekness will beau-
tify our profession, and will adorn the doctrines of
God our Savior, and may have a very good influence
96 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
upon others, who cannot but be in love with such
an excellent grace, when thus, like the oinlment of
the right hand, it betrayeth itself, and the house is
filled w^th the odor of it.
Again, this meekness must be thus showed wito all
vieii — foes as well as friends, those without as well as
those within, all that we have any thing to do with.
We must show our meekness not only to those
above us, of whom we stand in awe, but to those
below us, over whom we have authority. The poor
indeed use entreaties, but Avhatever is the practice,
it is not the privilege of the rich to " answer rough-
ly." We must show our meekness " not only to the
good and gentle, but also to the froward, for this is
thankworthy." Our meekness must be as extensive
as our love, so exceeding broad is this command-
ment, *' all meekness to all men." We must show
this meekness most to those with whom we most
converse. There are some, that, when they are in
company with strangers, appear very mild and good-
humored, their behavior is plausible enough and
complaisant ; but in their families they are peevish,
and froward, and ill-natured, and those about theni
scarce know how to speak to them : this shows that
the fear of man gives greater check to their passions
than the fear of God. Our rule is to be meek toward
all, even to the brute creation, over whom we are
lords, but must not be tyrants.
Observe the reason which the apostle gives why
SCRIPTURE PRECEPTS. 97
we should show all meekness toward all men ; " for
we ourselves also were sometime foolish." Time
was, when perhaps we were as bad as the worst of
those we are now angry at ; and if now it be better
with us, we are purely beholden to the free grace of
God in Christ that made the difference ; and shall
we be harsh to our brethren, who have found God
so kind to us? Has God forgiven us our great debt,
and passed by so many willful provocations; and shall
we be extreme to mark what is done amiss against
us, and make the worst of every slip and oversight ?
The great Gospel argument for mutual forbearance
and forgiveness is, that " God for Christ's sake has
forgiv-en us."
It may be of use also for the qualifying of our an-
ger at inferiors, to remember not only our former
sinfulness against God in our unconverted state, but
our former infirmities in the age and state of infe-
riors : were not Ave ourselves sometimes foolish 1
Our children are careless, and playful, andfroward,
and scarcely governable ; and were not we ourselves
so when we were of their age? And if we have now
put away childish things, yet they have not. Chil-
dren may be brought up in the nurture and admo-
nition of the Lord, without being provoked to wrath.
5. We I'.ust '* study to be quiet," that is, study not
to disturb others, nor to be ourselves disturbed by
others : be ambitious of this, as the greatest honor ;
so the word signifies. The most of men are ambi-
9
98 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
tious of the honor of great business, and power, and
preferment; they covet it, they court it, they com-
pass sea and land to obtain it ; but the ambition of a
Christian should be carried out towards quietness:
we should reckon that the happiest post, and desire
it accordingly, which lies most out of the road of
provocation
'* Let him that will, ascend the tottering seat
** Of courtly grandeur, and become as great
"As are his mounting wishes : as for me,
"Let sweet repose and rest my portion be.
•" Let my age
" Slide gently by, not overthwart the stage
" Of public action, unheard, unseen,
" And unconcern'd, as if I ne'er had been."
This is studying to be quiet. Subdue and keep
under all those disorderly passions which tend to
the disturbing and clouding of the soul. Compose
yourselves to this holy rest ; put yourselves in a pos-
ture to invite this blessed sleep which God gives to
his beloved. Take pains, as students in arts and
sciences do, to understand the mystery of this grace.
I. call it a mystery, because St. Paul, who was so
well versed in the deep things of God, speaks of this
as a mystery. " I am instructed," as in a mj^stery,
" both to be full and to be hungry, bo^h to abound
and to suffer need :" that is, in one word, to be quiet.
To study the art of quietness is to take pains with
ourselves, to have in our own hearts the principles,
SCRIPTURE PATTERNS. 99
rules, and laws of meekness; and to furnish our-
selves with such considerations as tend to thequit^t-
ing of the spirit in the midst of the greatest provoca-
tions. Others are studying to disquiet us ; the more
need we have to study how to quiet ourselves, by a
careful watching against all that which is ruffling
and discomposing. Christians should, above all stu-
dies, study to be quiet, and labor to be actuated by
an even spirit under all the unevenness of Provi-
dence, and remember that one good word which Sir
William Temple tells us the prince of Orange said
he learnt from the master of his ship, who, in a storm,
was calling to the steersman, " Steady, steady." Let
but the hand be steady and the heart quiet, and
though our passage be rough, we may weather the
point, and get safe to the harbor.
CHAPTER V.
SCRIPTURE PATTERNS.
Good examples help very much to illustrate and
enforce good rules, bringing them closer to particu-
lar cases, and showing them to be practicable. Pre-
cedents are of great use in the law. If w^e would be
100 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
found wallang in the same spirit, and walking in the
same steps with those that are gone before us to
glory, this is the spirit by which we must be actua-
ted, and these the steps in which we must walk : this
is the way of good men, for wise men to walk in.
Let us go forth then "by the footsteps of the flock,"
and set ourselves to follow them who through faith
and patience inherit the promises. We are compassed
about with a great cloud of witnesses, who will bear
their testimony to the comfort of meekness, and upon
trial recommend it to us ; but we shall single out only
some few from the Scripture.
1. Abraham was a pattern of meekness, and he
was the father of the faithful. As he was famous for
faith, so was he for meekness ; for the more we have
of faith toward God, the more we shall have of meek-
ness toward all men. How meek was Abraham,
when there happened a strife betwixt his herdsmen
and Lot's, which, had it proceeded, might have been
of ill consequence, for " the Canaanite and the Pe-
rizzite dwelled then in the land;" but it was season-
ably overruled by the prudence of Abraham. " Let
there be no strife, I pray thee :" though he might
command peace, yet for love's sake he rather be-
seeches. Every word has an air of meekness, and a
tendency to peace. And when the expedient for the
. prevention of strife was their parting from each other,
though Lot was the junior, yet Abraham, for peace-
sake, quitted his right, and gave Lot the choice; and
SCRIPTURE PATTERNS. 101
the gracious visit which God gave him thereupon,
was an abundant recompense for his mildness and
condescension.
Another instance of Abraham's meekness we have
when Sarah quarreled with him so unreasonably
about her maid, angry at that which she herself had
done. " My wrong be upon thee : — the Lord judge
between thee and me." Abraham might soon have
replied, You may thank yourself, it was your own
contrivance ; but, laying aside the present provoca-
tion, he abides by one of the original rules of the re-
lation, *' Behold, thy maid is in thy hand." He did
not answer passion with passion, that would have
put all into a flame ; but he answered passion with
meekness, and so all was quiet.
Another instance of Abraham's meekness we
have in the transactions between him and Abimelech
his neighbor. He first enters into a covenant of
friendship with him, which w^as confirmed by an
oath, and then (not reproaches him, but) reproves
him for a wrong that his servants had done him
about a Well of water ; which gives us this rule of
meekness, " Not to break friendship for a small mat-
ter of difference :" such and such occasions there are,
which they that are disposed to it might quarrel
about ; but " what is that between me and thee ?"
If meekness rule, matters in variance may be fair-
ly reasoned and adjusted, without violation or in-
fringement of friendship. This is the example of
H. M. 9*
102 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
that great patriarch. The future happiness of the
saints is represented as the bosom of Abraham — a
quiet state. Those who hope to lie in the bosom of
Abraham shortly, must tread in the steps of Abra-
ham now, whose children we are as long as we thus
do well, " and who " (as Maimonides expresses it)
** is the father of all who are gathered under the
wings of the Divine Majesty."
2. Moses was a pattern of meekness, it was his
master-grace, that in which, more than in any other,
he excelled. This testimony the Holy Ghost gives
of him, that " the man Moses was very meek, above
all the men which were upon the face of the earth."
This character of him is given upon occasion of
an affront he received from those of his own house ;
which intimates that his quiet and patient bearing it
was the greatest proof and instance of his meekness.
Those can bear any provocation, that can bear it
from their near relations. The meekness of Moses,
as the patience of Job, was tried on all hands. Ar-
mor of proof shall be sure to be shot at. It should
seem that his wife was none of the best humored
women ; for what a passion was she in about the cir-
cumcising of her son, when she reproached him as
a bloody husband ; and we do not read of one word
that he replied, but let her have her saying. When
God was angry, and Zipporah angry, it was best
for him to be quiet. The lot of his public work was
cast " in the provocation, in the day of temptation in-
SCRIPTURE PATTERNS. 103
the wilderness ;" but as if all the mutinies of mur-
muring Israel were too little to try the meekness of
Moses, his own brother and sister, and those of no
less a figure than Miriam the prophetess, and Aaron
the saint of the Lord, quarrel with him, speak against
him, envy his honor, reproach his marriage, and are
ready to head a rebellion against him. God heard
this, and was angry; Num. 12 : 2, 9; but Moses,
though he had reason enough to resent it wrathful ly,
was not at all moved by it, took no notice of it, made
no complaint to God, no answer to them, and we do
not find one word that he said, till we find him pray-
ing heartily for his provoking sister, who was then
under the tokens of God's displeasure for the afl[ront
she gave him. The less a man strives for himself,
the more is God engaged in honor and faithfulness
to appear for him. When Christ said, " I seek not
mine own glory," he presently added, *' but there is
one that seeketh and judgeth." And it Avas upon
this occasion that Moses obtained this good report,
** He was the meekest of all the men on the earth/'
*' No man," says bishop Hall, " could have given
greater proofs of courage than Moses. He slew the
Egyptian, beat the Midianite shepherds, confronted
Pharaoh in his own court, not fearing the wrath of
the king ; he durst look God in the face amidst all
the terrors of mount Sinai, and draw near to the
thick darkness where God was ; and yet that Spirit
which made and knew his heart, saith he was the
104' HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
meekest, mildest man upon the earth. Mildness and
fortitude maj?- well lodge together in the same breast,
which corrects the mistake of those that will allow
none valiant but the fierce."
The meekness of Moses qualified him to be a
magistrate, especially to be king in Jeshurun, among
a people so very provoking that they gave him oc-
casion to use all the meekness he had, and all little
enough to bear their manners in the wilderness.
When they murmured against him, quarreled with
him, arraigned his authorit}'-, and were sometimes
ready to stone him, he resented these provocations
with very little of personal application or concern ;
but instead of using his interest in heaven to sum-
mon plagues upon them, he made it his business to
stand in the gap, and, by his intercession for them,
to turn away the wrath of God from them ; and this
not once or twice only, but many times.
And yet we must observe that, though Moses was
the meekest man in the world, yet, when God's hon-
or and glory were concerned, no one was more
warm and zealous: witness his resentment of the
golden calf, when, in a holy indignation at that
abominable iniquity, he deliberately broke the tables.
And when Korah and his cmv invaded the priest's
office, Moses, in a pious wrath, said unto the Lord,
*' Respect not thou their offering." He that was a
iamb in his own cause, was a lion in the cause of
God : anger at sin, as sin, is very well consistent
SCRIPTURE PATTERNS. T 105*
i\'ith reigning meekness. Nor can it be forgotten,
that though Moses was eminent for meekness, yet,
he once transgressed the laws of it ; when he was
old, and his spirit was provoked, he spake unadvi-
sedly with his lips, and it went ill with him lor it ;
Psalm 106 : 32; which is written not for imitation,
but for admonition ; not to justify our rash anger, but
to engage us to stand upon our guard at all times
against it, that he who thinks he stands may take
heed lest he fall, and that he who has thus fallen
may not wonder if he come under the rebukes of
Divine Providence for it in this world, as Moses did,
and yet may not despair of being pardoned upon
repentance.
3. David was a pattern of meekness, and it is
promised that " the feeble shall be as David." In
this, as in other instances, he was a man after God's
own heart. When his own brother was so rough
upon him without reason, " Why camest thou down
hither ?" how mild was his answer ! *' What have
I now done? Is there not a cause?" When his
enemies reproached him, he was not at all disturbed
at it. "I, as a deaf man, heard not." When Saul
persecuted him with such an unwearied malice, he
did not take the advantage which Providence seemed
to offer him, more than once, to revenge himself, but
left it to God. David's meek spirit concurred with
the proverb of the ancients ; " wickedness proceed-
eth from the wicked, but my hand shall not be upon
106 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
thee." When Nabal's churlishness provoked him,
yet Abigail's prudence soon pacified him, and it
pleased him to be pacified. When Shimei cursed
him with a bitter curse in the day of his calamity,
he resented not the offence, nor would hear any talk
of punishing the offender: *' So let him curse ; let
him alone, for the Lord hath bidden him :" quietly
committing his cause to God, who judges righteously.
And other instances there are in his story, which
<*vidence the truth of what he said ; *' My soul is
even like a weaned child." And yet David was a
great soldier, a man of celebrated courage, that slew
a lion, and a bear, and a Philistine, (as much a ra-
venous beast as either of them,) which shows that
it was his wisdom and grace, and not his cowardice,
that at other times made him so quiet. David was a
man that met with very many disquieting and disturb-
ing events in the several scenes of his life, through
which, though they sometimes ruffled him a little, yet»
for the main, he preserved an admirable temper, and
an evenness and composedness of mind which was
very exemplary. When, upon the surprise of a fright,
he changed his behavior before Abimelech, and coun-
terfeited that madness which angry people realize,
yet his mind was so very quiet and undisturbed that,
lit that time, he penned the 34th Psalm, in which not
only the excellency of the matter, and the calmness
of the expression, but the composing of it alphabeti-
cally, (in the Hebrew,) speaks him to be, even then,
SCRIPTURE PATT£RNg. IQT
in a sedate frame, and to have very much the com-
mand of his own thoughts. As, at another time,
when his own followers spake of stoning him, though
he could not still the tumult of his troops, he could
-those of his spirit, for then he ** encouraged himself
in the Lord his God." As to those prayers against
his enemies, which we find in some of his psalms,
surely they did not proceed from any such irregular
passion as did in the least clash even with the evan-
gelical laws of meekness. We cannot imagine that
one who was so piously calm in his common conver-
sation, should be sinfully hot in his devotion ; nor
are they to be looked upon as the private expressions
of his own angry resentments, but as inspired pre-
dictions of God's judgments upon the public and ob-
stinate enemies of Christ and his kingdom, as ap-
pears by comparing Psalm 69 : 22, 23, Math Rom.
11 : 9, 10; and Psalm 109 : 8, with Acts, 1 : 20.
Nor are they any more opposite to the spirit of the
Gospel than the cries of the souls under the altar, or
the triumphs of heaven and earth in the destruction
of Babylon. Rev. 6 : 10; 19 : 1.
4. Paul was a pattern of meekness. Though his
natural temper seems to have been warm and eager,
which made him eminently active and zealous, yet
that temper was so rectified and sanctified that he
was no less eminently m^ek : he became all things
to all men. He studied to please all with whom he
had to do, and to render himself engaging to them
108 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
for their good to edification. How patiently did he
bear the greatest injuries and indignities, not only
from Jews and heathens, but from false brethren, that
were so very industrious to abuse and undermine
him ! How glad was he that Christ was preached,
though out of envy and ill-will, by those that studied
to add affliction to his bonds ! In governing the
church, he was not led by the sudden resolves ot
passion, but always deliberated calmly concerning
the use of the rod of discipline when there was oc-
casion for it. *' Shall I come to you with a rod, or
in the spirit of meekness?" — that is. Shall I proceed
immediately to censures, or shall I not rather con-
tinue the same gentle usage as hitherto, waiting still
for your reformation ? Herein the spirit of meek-
ness appears more open and legible than in the use
of the rod, though that also is very well consistent
with it.
Many other examples of meekness might be ad-
duced, but the time would fail me to tell of Isaac,
and Jacob, and Joseph, and Joshua ; of Samuel also,
and Job, and Jeremiah, and all the prophets and
apostles, martyrs and confessors, and eminent saints,
who by meekness subdued (not kingdoms, but) their
own spirits; slopt the mouths (not of lions, but) of
more fierce and formidable enemies ; quenched the
violence (not of fire, but) of intemperate and more
ungovernable passions ; and so \^rought righteous-
ness, obtained promises, escaped the edge of the
SCRIPTURE PATTERNS. 109
sword, and out of weakness were made strong; and
by all this obtained a good report. Heb. 1 1 : 32, 33,
34.^ — But, after all,
5. Our Lord Jesus was the great pattern of meek-
ness and quietness of spirit ; all the rest had their
spots, but here is a copy without a blot. We must fol-
low the rest no further than they were conformable to
this great original: •' Be ye followers of me," says
Paul, "as I am of Christ." He fulfilled all rights
eousness, and was a complete exemplar of all that is
holy, just, and good; but I think, in most, if not all
those places of Scripture where he is particularly
and expressly propounded to us for an example, it
is to recommend to us some or other of the duties of
Christianity ; those I mean which tend to the sweet-
ening of our converse one with another. The Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us, that he might
teach us how to dwell together in unity. We must
walk in love, as Christ loved us; forgive, as Christ
forgave us ; please one another, for Christ pleased
not himself; be charitable to the poor, for we know
the grace of our Lord Jesus; wash one another's
feet, that is, stoop to the meanest offices of love, for
Christ did so ; doing all with lowliness of mind, for
it is the same mind that was in Christ Jesus ; but
above all, our Lord Jesus was an example of meek-
ness. Moses had this grace as a servant, but Christ
as a son ; he was anointed with it above measure.
He is called the " Lamb of God," for his meekness,
H. M. 10
110 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
and patience, and inoffensiveness, and even in his
exaltation he retains the same character. One of
the elders told John, that *' the Lion of the tribe of
Judah " would open the sealed book ; " and I be-
held," says John, ''and lo! a Lamb." He that was
a lion for strength and courage, was a lamb for mild-
ness and gentleness ; and if a lion, yet " the Lion of
the tribe of Judah," which the dying patriarch de-
scribes to be a lion gone up from the prey, and that
is stooped down and couched, and not to be roused
up; Gen. 49:9; indicating the quietness and re-
pose even of this lion. If Christ be a lion, he is a
lion resting — the devil is a lion roaring. But the
adorations given to Christ by the heavenly hosts
speak of him as the Lamb. " Blessing and glory to
him that sits upon the throne ;" they do not say, and
to the Lion of the tribe of Judah, but to " the Lamb."
Though he has a name given him above every name,
yet he will be known by that name which denotes
his meekness, as if this were to be his name for ever,
and this his memorial to all generations. As he
that rides upon the heavens, by his name Jah, is the
Father of the fatherless and the Judge of the wi-
dows ; so Christ rides " prosperously, because of
meekness."
Now it is the character of all the saints that they
follow the Lamb : as a lamb they follow him in his
meekness, and are therefore so often called the sheep
of Christ. This is that part of his copy which he
SCRIPTURE PATTERNS. Ill
expressly calls us to write after : " Learn of me, for
I am meek and lowly in heart." If the master be
mild, it ill becomes the servant to be froward. The
apostle is speaking of Christ's meekness under his
sufferings, when he says that he " left us an exam-
ple that we should follow his steps."
Let us observe particularly the meekness of our
Lord Jesus towards his Father, and towards his
friends, and towards his foes ; in each of which he
is an example to us.
1. He was very meek towards God his Father,
cheerfully submitting to his whole will, and standing
complete in it. In his commanding will, *' Lo, I
come," says he, *' I delight to do thy will ;" though it
enjoined him a very hard service, yet it w^as '• his
meat and drink ;" and he always did those things
that pleased his Father. So, likewise, in his dispos-
ing will he acquiesced from first to last. When he
was entering on that sharp encounter, though sense
startled at it, and said, " Father, if it be possible, let
the cup pass from me ;" yet he soon submitted with a
great deal of meekness ; " Not as I will, but as thou
wilt." Though it was a very bitter cup, yet his Fa-
ther put it into his hand, and therefore he drank it :
" The cup that my Father hath given me, shall I
not drink it ?"
2. He was very meek towards his friends that
loved and followed him. With what remarkable
instances of mildness, gentleness, and tenderness did
112 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
he train up his disciples ! though from first to last he
was " a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief."
Where nature is corrupt, such are apt to be peevish
and froward with those about them ; yet how meekly
and calmly did he bear with their weaknesses and
infirmities ! After they had been long under the in-
spection and influence of such a teacher, and had all
the advantages that men could have for acquaintance
with the things of God, yet how weak and defective
were they in knowledge, and gifts, and graces 1 How
ignorant and forgetful were they ! How slow of
heart to understand and believe ! And what blun-
ders did they make ! Dull scholars it should seem
they were, and bad proficients. But their hearts be-
ing upright with him, he did not cast them off, nor
turn them out of his school, but rectified their mis-
takes, instructed them in their duty, and the doctrine
they were to preach, by precept upon precept, and
line upon line ; and taught them, as they were able
to bear it, as one that considered their frame, and
could " have compassion on the ignorant, and on
them that are out of the way." As long as he was
with them, so long he suffered them. Mark, 9 : 19.
This, as it is a great encouragement to Christian
learners, so it is a great example toChristian teachers.
Also Christ was meek, in his forgiving and pass-
ing by their unkindness and disrespect to himself.
He was not extreme to mark what they did amiss of
this kind. When they murmured at the cost that
/
SCRIPTURE PATTERNS. 113
was bestowed upon him, and called it waste, and
had indignation at it, he did not resent it as he might
have done, nor seem to observe how much what
they said reflected upon him : nor did he condemn
them any other way than by commending the wo-
man. When Peter, and James, and John, the first
three of his disciples, were with him in the garden,
and very unseasonably slept while he was in his
agony praying, so little concerned did they seem to
be for him, yet observe how meekly he spoke to
them: " Could ye not watch with me one hour?"
And when they had not a word to say for themselves,
so inexcusable was their fault, he had something to
say for them, and instead of accusing them, he apo-
logizes for them : " The spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak." When Peter had denied him,
and had cursed and sworn he did not know him,
than which (besides the falsehood and perfidiousness
of it) nothing could be more unkind ; with what
meekness did he bear it ! It is not said, the Lord
turned and frowned upon Peter, though he deserved
to be frowned into hell, but, " the Lord turned and
looked upon Peter," and that look recovered him
into the way to heaven ; it was a kind look, and not
an angry one. Some days after, when Christ and
Peter met in Galilee, and had dined together as a
token of reconciliation, and some discourse passed
between them, not a word was said of this matter ;
Christ did not upbraid him with his fault, nor chide
10*
114 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
him for it, nor did there appear any other fruit of
the falling out of these lovers, but only the renew-
ing of thdf love with greater endearments ; which
teaches us to forgive and forget the unkindness of
those that are for the main our true friends, and if
any occasion of difference happens, to turn it into an
occasion of confirming our love to them.
3. He was very meek toward his enemies, that
hated and persecuted him. The whole story of his
life is filled with instances of invincible meekness.
While he " endured the contradiction of smners
against himself," he had a perpetual serenity and
harmony within, and was never in the least discom-
posed by it. When his preaching and miracles were
cavilled at and reproached, and he himself repre-
sented uijder the blackest characters, not only as the
drunkard's companion, but as the devil's confederate,
with what a wonderful calmness did he bear it!
How mildly did he answer with reason and tender-
ness, when he could have replied in thunder and
lightning ! How well satisfied, under all such invi-
dious reflections, with this, that " wisdom is justified
of all her children !" When some of his disciples
would have had fire from heaven upon those rude
people that refused him entertainment in their town,
he was so far from complying with the motion, that
he rebuked it : " Ye know not what manner of spiri
ye are of." " This persuasion cometh not of Him
that calleth you." The design of Christ and of his
SCRIPTURE PATTERNS. 115
holy religion is to sh^pe men into a mild and mer-
r.iial temper, and to make them sensibly tender of
the lives and comfort even of their worst enemies.
Christianity was intended to revive humanity, and
to make those men, who had made themselves beasts.
J3ut our Lord Jesus did in a more especial manner
evidence his meekness when he was in his last suf-
ferings— that awful scene. Though he was the most
innocent and the most excellent person that ever was,
who, by the doctrine he had preached and the mira-
cles he had wrought, had richly deserved all the ho-
nors and respect that the world could pay him, and
infinitely more; and though the injuries he received
were ingeniously and industriously contrived to the
highest degree of affront and provocation ; yet he
bore all with an undisturbed meekness, and with
that shield quenched all the fiery darts which his
malicious enemies shot at him.
His meekness toward his enemies appeared in
what he said to them — not one angry word, in the
midst of all the indignities they offered him. '* When
he was reviled, he reviled not again." When he was
buffeted, and spit upon, and abused, he took it all
patiently ; one would wonder at the gracious words
which even then proceeded out of his mouth ; wit-
ness that mild reply to him that smote him : " If I
have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil ; but if
well, why smitest thou me?"
Also his meekness towards his enemies appeared
116 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
in what he said to God for them : " Father, forgive
them ;" so giving an example to his own rule : " Pray
for them which despitefully use you." Though he
was then deeply engaged in the most solemn trans-
action that ever passed between heaven and earth,
though he had so much to do with God for himself
and his friends, yet he did not forget to offer this
prayer for his enemies. The mercy he begged of
God for them was the greatest mercy, (that which
he was then dying to purchase and procure,) the
pardon of their sins ; not only, Father, spare them,
or reprieve them, but, Father, forgive them ; the ex-
cuse he pleaded for them was the best their crime
was capable of: " They know not what they do."
Now in all these things our Master has left us an
example. What is the practice of religion ftut the
imitation of God endeavored by us ? And what the
principle of it, but the image of God renewed in us ?
We are bid to be followers of God, as dear children.
But this sets the copy we are to write after at a
mighty distance, for God is in heaven, and we are
upon earth ; and therefore in the Lord Jesus Christ,
God incarnate, God in our nature, the copy is brought
among us, and the transcribing of it in some mea-
sure appears more practicable. " He that hath seen
me," savs Christ, "hath seen the Father ;" and so
he that imitates Christ, imitates the Father. The re-
ligion which our Lord Jesus came into the world
to establish, being every way so well calculated for
SCRIPTURE PATTERNS. 117
the peace and order of the world, and being desig^ned
to recover the lapsed souls of men from their dege-
nerate state, and to sweeten their spirits and temper,
and so to befriend human society, and to make it
some way conformable to the blessed society above ;
he not only gave such precepts as were wonderfully
fitted to this great end, but recommended them to the
world by the loveliness and amiablenessofhis own
example. Are we not called Christians from Christ,
whom we call Master and Lord, and shall we not
endeavor to accommodate ourselves to him ? We prot
fess to rejoice in him as our forerunner, and shall
we not run after him ? To what purpose were we
listed under his banner, but that we might follow
him as our leader ? We have all of us reason to say
that Jesus Christ is very meek, or else we that have
provoked him so much and so often had been in
hell long ago ; we owe it to his meekness, to whom
all judgment is committed, that we have not ere this
been carried away with a swdft destruction, and dealt
with according to the desert of our sins, which, if
duly considered, one would think should tend great-
ly to soften us. The apostle draws an argument from
that kindness and love to us which we ourselves
have experienced, who were foolish and disobedient,
to persuade us to be " gentle, showing all meekness ;''
and he beseeches the Corinthians " by the meek-
ness and gentleness of Christ," as a thing very win-
ning, and of dear and precious account. Let " the
118 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
same mind" therefore be in us, not only which was,
but which, as we find to our comfort, still is in
Christ Jesus. That we may not forfeit our interest
in his meekness, let us tread in the steps of it; and
as ever we hope to be like him in glory hereafter,
let us study to be like him in grace, in this grace
now. It is a certain rule, by which we must all be
tried shortly, that "if any man hath not the Spirit
of Christ," (that is, if his spirit be not in some mea-
sure like Christ's,) " he is none of his." Rom. 8 : 9.
And if we be not owned as his, we are undone for
CHAPTER VI.
WHEN MEEKNESS IS SPECIALLY REQUIRED.
The rule is general ; Ave must show " all meek-
ness ;" but it will be of use to observe some special
cases to which the Scripture applies this rule.
1. We must give reproofs with meekness. It is
the apostle's direction, " If a man be overtaken in a
fault," (that is, if he be surprised by a temptation
and overcome, as the best may be, if God leave them
to themselves,) " ye which are spiritual, restore such
WHEN SPECIALLY REQtTlREU. 119
a one in the spirit of meekness." By the spiritual
man, to whom he gives this rule, he means not mi-
nisters only 5 doubtless it is a rule to private Chris-
tians; all that have opportunity must reprove, and
all that reprove must do it with meekness. Ye
that are spiritual, if you would approve yourselves
so indeed, actuated by the Holy Spirit, and minding
the things of the Spirit, be careful in this matter.
Especially let those that are Christians of the high-
est form, that excel in grace, and holiness, and the
best gifts, (such are called spiritual in distinction
from babes in Christ, 1 Cor. 3 : 1,) let them look
upon themselves as obliged, in a more peculiar
manner, to help others ; for where God gives five
talents, he expects the improvement of five ; the
strong must bear the infirmities of the weak. The
setting of a dislocated joint or a broken bone is, for
the present, painful to the patient ; but it must be
done, and it is in order to the making of broken
bones to rejoice. Now this you must do with the
spirit of meekness, with all the candor, and gentle-
ness, and convincing evidences of love and kindness
that can be. The three qualifications of a good sur-
geon are very requisite in a reprover, namely, to
have an eagle's eye, a lion's heart, and a lady's
hand ; that is, to be endued with a great deal of wis-
dom, and courage, and meekness. Though some-
times it is needful to reprove with warmth, yet
we must never reprove with wrath, " for the wrath
120 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
of man vvorketh not the righteousness of God."
There is an observable difference, but no contra-
diction betwixt the directions Paul gives to Timo-
thy, and those he gives to Titus in this matter. To
Titus he writes to •' reprove sharply," and to " re-
buke with all authority." To Timothy he writes
" not to strive, but to be gentle ;" to reprove •' with
all long-suffering." The reason of this difference
may be found in the different temper of those they
had to deal with. Timothy was among the Ephe-
sians, a tractable, complaisant people, that would be
easily managed, and with them he must always deal
gently. Titus was among the Cretians, that were
headstrong, and not to be wTought upon but by
sharper methods. Thus, in reproving, a difference
must be made : of some we must " have compassion,
and others save with fear," but never with anger,
" pulling them out of the fire." Or, the reason of
the different instructions they received may be
found (as Gregory, one of the ancients, assigns it)
in the different temper of Timothy and Titus. " Ti-
tus was a man of a very soft and mild temper, and
he had need of a spur to quicken him to a needful
acrimony in his reproofs ; but Timothy was a man
of a more warm and sanguine temper, and he had
need of a bridle to keep him from an intemperate
heat in his reproofs ;" and then it teaches us, that
those who are naturally keen and fervent should
double their guard upon their own spirits when
WHEN SPECIALLY RECiUIRKD. 121
they are reproving, that they may do it with all
meekness.
Christ's ministers must be careful, while they
display God's wrath, to conceal their own ; and be
very jealous over themselves, lest sinful anger shel-
ter itself under the cloak of zeal against sin. When
reproving (whoever be the reprover) degenerates
into railing, and reviling, and opprobrious language,
how can we expect the desired success ? It may pro-
voke to contention and every evil work, but it will
never provoke to love and to good Avorks. The
work of heaven is not likely to be done by a tongue
set on fire of hell. Has Christ need of mad men ?
or will you talk deceitfully and passionately for him?
A potion given too hot, scalds the patient, and does
more hurt than good ; and so many a reproof, good
for the matter of it, has been spoiled by an irregular
management. Meekness hides the lancet, orijds the
pill, and makes it passable ; dips the nail in oil, and
then it drives the better. Twice w^e find Jonathan
reproving his father for his rage against David;
once he did it with meekness, " Let not the king sin
against his servant;" (against David ;) and it is said,
*' Saul hearkened to him." But another time his
spirit was provoked, ♦' Wherefore shall he be slain ?"
and the issue of it was ill. Saul was not only impa-
tient of the reproof, but enraged at the reprover, and
cast a javelin at him. Reproofs are likely to an-
swer the intention when they manifestly evidence
H. M. 11
122 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
the good will of the reprover, and are made up of
soft words and hard arguments : this is to " re-
store with the spirit of meekness," and there is a
good reason added, " considering thyself;" he may
fall to^lay, I may to-morrow. Those who think
they stand fast, know not how soon they may be
shaken and overthrown, and therefore we must treat
those that are overtaken in a fault, with the same
tenderness and compassion that we would wish to
find if it were our own case.
2. We must receive reproofs with meekness. If
we do that which deserves rebuke, and meet with
those that are so just and kind as to give it us, we
must be quiet under it, not quarreling with the re-
prover, nor objecting to the reproof, nor fretting that
we are touched in a sore place ; but submitting to it,
and laying our souls under the conviction of it. If
reproofs be physic, it becomes us to be patient. '* Let
the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness," and
an excellent oil, healing to the wounds of sin, and
making the face to shine ; and let us never reckon that
it breaks the head, if it do but help to break the heart.
Meekness suffers the word of admonition, and takes
it patiently and thankfully, not only from the hand
of God that sends it, but from the hand of our friend
that brings it. We must not be like the reprobate
Sodomites, or that pert Hebrew, Exod. 2:14, that
flew in the face of their reprovers (though really
they were the best friends they had) with *• Who
WHEN SPECIALLY REQUIRED. 123
made thee a judge?" but like David, who, when
Abigail so prudently scotched the wheels of his pas-
sion, not only blest God that sent her, and blest her
advice, but blest her: not only hearkened to her
voice, but accepted her person. Though, perhaps,
the reprover supposes the fault greater than really
it was, and though the reproof be not given with all
the prudence in the world ; yet meekness will teach
us to accept it quietly, and to make the best use we
can of it. Nay, if indeed we be altogether innocent
of that for which we are reproved, yet the meekness
of wisdom would teach us to apply the reproof to
some other fault of which our own consciences con-
vict us : we would not quarrel with a real intended
kindness, though not done with ceremony, and
though in some circumstances mistaken or mis-
placed.
You that are in inferior relations — children, ser-
vants, scholars, must, with all meekness and submis-
sion, receive the reproofs of your parents, masters,
and teachers ; their age supposes them to have more
understanding than you, and their place gives them
an authority over you to which you are to pay a
deference, and in which you are to acquiesce, else
farewell all order and peace. The angel rebuked
Hagar for flying from her mistress, though she dealt
hardly with her, and obliged her to return and sub-
mit herself under her hands. *' If the spirit of a
ruler rise up against thee," and thou be chidden for
124 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
a fault, " leave not thy place," as an inferior, for
" yielding pacifieth great oifences." " If thou hast
thought evil, lay thy hand upon thy mouth " to keep
that evil thought from breaking out in any undue
and unbecoming language. Reproofs are like'ly to
do us good when we meekly submit to them ; they
are " as an ear-ring of gold, and an ornament of fine
gold," when ** an obedient ear " is given to a wise
reprover. Nay, even superiors are to receive re-
proofs from their inferiors with meekness, as they
would any other token of kindness and good will.
Naaman, who turned away from the prophet in a
rage, yet hearkened to the reproof his own servants
gave him, and was overruled by the reason of it ;
which was no more a disparagement to him than it
was to receive instruction from his wife's maid to
whom to go for a cure of his leprosy. Meekness
teaches us, when a just reproof is given, to regard "
not so much who speaks, as what is spoken.
3. We must instruct gainsayers with meekness ;
2 Tim. 2 : 24, 25. It is prescribed to ministers that
they " must not strive, but be gentle to all men," in
meekness instructing those that oppose themselves.
They serve the Prince of Peace ; they preach the
Gospel of peace ; they are the ambassadors of peace;
and therefore must be sure to keep the peace. The
apostles, those prime ministers of state in Christ's
kingdom, were not military men, or men of strife
and noise, but fishermen that followed their employ-
WHEN SPECIALLY REQUIRED. 125
ment with quietness and silence. It is highly ne-
cessary that the guides of the church be strict gov-
ernors of their own passions. " Learn of me," says
Christ, " for I am meek and lowly," and therefore
fit to teach you. We must " contend earnestly," but
not angrily and passionately — no, not for " the faith
once delivered to the saints." When we have ever
so great an assurance that it is the cause of truth we '
are pleading, yet wo must so manage our defence
against those who gainsay, as to make it appear that
it is not the confusion of the erroneous, but the con-
futation of the error that we intend. This meekness
would teach us not to prejudge a cause, nor to con-
demn an adversary unheard, but calmly to state mat-
ters in difference, as knowing that a truth well open-
ed is half confirmed. It would teach us not to ag-
gravate matters in dispute, nor to father upon an ad-
versary all the absurd consequences which we think
may be inferred from his opinion : it would teach
us to judge charitably of those that difl!er from us,
and to forbear all personal reflections in arguing
with them. God's cause needs not the patronage of
our sinful passions, which often give a mighty shock
even to the truth for which we plead. Meekness
would prevent and cure that bigotry which has been
so long the bane of the church, and contribute a great
deal towards the advancement of that happy state in
which, notwithstanding little diflferences of appre-
hension and opinion, the Lord shall be one, and his
126 HENRY ON MEEKNiSSS.
name one. Public reformations are carried on with
most credit and comfort, and are most likely to settle
on lasting fomidations, when meekness sits at the
stern and guides the motions of them. When Christ
was purging the temple, though he was therein ac-
tuated by a zeal for God's hou-se that even ate him up.
yet he did it with meekness and prudence, which ap-
peared in this instance, that w.hen he drove out th»^
sheep and oxen, which would easily be caught again,
he said to them that sold doves, " Take these thing.^
hence." He did not let loose the doves and send
them flying, for that would have been to the loss and
prejudice of the owners. Angry, noisy, bitter ar-
guings ill become the assertors of that truth which
is great and will prevail. Our Lord Jesus lived in
a very froward and perverse generation, yet it is
said, " He shall not strive nor cry, neither shall any
man hear his voice in the street." Though he could
break them as easily as a bruised reed, and exlin-
guish them as soon as one could quench the wick of a
candle newly lighted, yet he will not do it till the day
comes when "he shall bring forth judgment unto
victory." Moses dealt with a very obstinate and stifT-
necked people, and yet " My doctrine," says he,
" shall drop as the rain, my speech distil as the dewy.
It was not the wind, nor the earthquake, nor the fire,
that brought Elijah into temper, (for the Lord was
not in them,) but " the still small voice ;" when he
heard that, he wrapt his face in his mantle. In deal-
WHEN SPECIALLY REQUIRED. 127
ing with gainsayers, a spirit of meekness will teach
us to consider their temper, education, custom, the
power of prejudice they labor under, the influence
of others upon them, and to make allowances ac-
cordingly, and not to call (as passionate contenders
are apt to do) every false step an apostacy ; every
error and mistake, nay, every misconstrued, mispla-
ced word, a heresy ; and every misdemeanor, no less
than treason and rebellion ; methods of proceeding
more likely to irritate and harden, than to convince
and reduce gainsayers. I have heard it observed
long since, " that the scourge of the tongue has dri-
ven many out of the temple, but never drove any
into it."
4. We must make profession of the hope that is
in us with meekness. " Be ready always to give an
answer," (to make your defence or apology, so the
word is,) whether judicially or extra-judicially, as
there is occasion, " to every man that (soberly, not
scoffingly and in derision) asks you a reason of the
hope that is in you," that is, of the hope you profess,
which you hope to be saved by, " with meekness and
fear." Observe, it is very well consistent with Chris-
tian quietness to appear in the defence of truth, and
to avow our Christian profession when at any time
we are duly called to it. That is not meekness, but
base cowardice, that tamely betrays and delivers up
any of Christ's tru-ths or institutions by silence, as
if we were ashamed or afraid to confess our Master.
128 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
But the office of meekness at such a time is to direct
us how and in what manner to bear our testimony,
not with pride and passion, but with humility and
mildness. Those that would successfully confess
the truth, must first learn to deny themselves ; and
we must give an account of our hope with a holy
fear of missing it in such a critical juncture. When
Ave give a reason for our religion, we must not boast
of ourselves, or of our own attainments, nor reflect
contempt and wrath upon our persecutors, but re-
member that " the present truth," (so it is called, 2
Pet. 1 : 12j) the truth which is now to be asserted, is
the same with the word of Christ's patience ; Rev. 3 :
10 ; that is, the word which must be patiently sufl^ered
for, according to the example of Him,who, with invin-
cible meekness, (before Pontius Pilate,) "witnessed a
good confession." A great abasement and diffidence
of ourselves may very well consist with a firm assur-
ance of the truth, and a profound veneration for it.
In lesser things, wherein wise and good men are
not all of a mind, meekness teaches us not to be too
confident that we are in the right, nor to censure
and condemn those that differ from us, as if we were
the people, and wisdom should die with us ; but
quietly to walk according to the light that God has
given us, and charitably to believe that others do so
too, waiting till God shall reveal either this to them,
Phil. 3 : 15, or that to us. Let it in such cases suf-
fice to vindicate ourselves, which every man has a
WHEN SPECIALLY REQUIRED. 129
right to do, without a magisterial sentencing of
others. Why should we be many masters, when we
are all offenders, James, 3 : 1,2, and the bar is our
place, not the bench 7 Meekness will likewise teach
lis to manage a singular opinion, wherein we differ
from others, with all possible deference to them and
suspicion of ourselves, not resenting it as an affront
to be contradicted, but taking it as a kindness to be
better informed. Nor must we be angry that our
hope is inquired into : even such a trial of it, if we
approve ourselves well in it, may be found to praise,
and honor, and glory; to which our meekness will
very much contribute, as it puts a lustre upon, and
a convincing power into the testimony we bear. We
then "walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we
are called," when wc walk " in all lowliness and
meekness."
5. We must bear reproaches with meekness. Re-
proach is a branch of that persecution which all that
will live godly in Christ Jesus must expect : and we
must submit to it, behaving ourselves quietly and
with a due decorum, not only when " princes sit and
speak against us," but even when "the abjects gather
themselves together against us," and we become
"the song of the drunkard." Sometimes we find it
easier to keep calm in a solemn and expected en-
gagement, than in a sudden skirmish or a hasty ren-
counter ; and therefore, even against those slight at-
tacks, it is requisite that meekness be set upon the
130 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
guard. If we be slandered, and have all manner of
evil said against us falsely, our rule is, not to be
disturbed at it, not to render " railing for railing ;" but
though we may, as we have opportunity, with meek-
ness deny the charge, as Hannah did, when Eli
overhastily censured her as drunken — " No, my
Lord, I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink ;"
yet, when that is done, we must, without meditating
any revenge, quietly commit our cause tq God, who
will, sooner or later, clear up our innocency as the
light, which is promised. Psalm 37 : 5, 6 ; and there-
fore " fret not thyself," but wait patiently ; " cease
from anger, and forsake wrath." Mr. Dod w^as
wont to charm his friends into silence under re-
proaches with this, "that if a dog bark at a sheep,
the sheep will not bark at the dog again." We do
but gratify our great adversary, and do his work for
him, when we suffer the peace and serenity of our
minds to be broken in upon by the reproaches of the
world. For me to disquiet myself, and put myself
into a passion, because another abuses me, is as if I
should scratch up the skin of my face to fetch off
the dirt which my adversary throws on it. When
reproaches provoke our passions, which excite us to
render bitterness for bitterness, we thereby lose the
comfort and forfeit the honor and reward which the
divine promise has annexed to the reproach of Christ ;
and shall we suffer so many things in vain ? We
likewise thereby give occasion to those who had spo-
WHEN SPECIALLY REQtTlRBD. 131
ken evil of us falsely, to speak evil of us truly ; and
perhaps our religion suffers more by our impatience
under the reproach, than by the reproach itself. For
what have we the law, and pattern, and promise of
Christ, but to calm our spirits under reproaches for
welUdoing ? Truly, those can bear but a little for
Christ, who cannot bear a hard or an unkind word
for him. If we either faint or fret in such a day of
adversity, it is a sign our strength is small indeed.
May it not satisfy us, that by our meekness and
quietness under reproaches we engage God for us,
who has promised that he will " with righteousness
judge the poor," the poor in spirit, and will " reprove
with equity for the meek of the earth." He that has
bid us to " open our mouth for the dumb," will not
himself be silent. And shall we not learn at last,
instead of fretting and being exceeding angry, to re-
joice and be exceeding glad, when •* we suffer this
for righteousness' sake ?" May we not put such re-
proaches as pearls in our crown, and be assured that
they will pass well in the account another day, when
there will be an advantageous resurrection of names
as well as bodies, in the prospect of which we have
reason to " rejoice that we are counted worthy to
suffer shame for his name ;" that we are honored to
be dishonored for Him, who for our sakes endured
the cross and despised the shame. It is one of the
laws of meekness, to despise being despise<i.
132 HENRY ON MEfiKNESft,
CHAPTER VII.
ARGUMENTS FOR MEEKNESS.
In order to the well-governing of the soul, the
judgment must be furnished with proper dictates,
else it will never be able to keep peace in the affec-
tions ; the emotions of the soul are then likely to be
even, and regular, and constant, when we have fixed
to ourselves good principles by which we are gov-
erned, and under the influence of which we act. We
shall select a few truths, out of many which might
be mentioned, proper for use as there is occasion.
I. He has the sweetest and surest peace, who is
the most master of his own passions. The comfort
that a man has in governing himself, is much great-
er than he could have in having people to serve him,
and nations to bow down to him. It is certain, the
worst enemies we have, if ever they break loose and
get head, are in our own bosoms. Enemies with-
out threaten only the evil of pain ; they can but kill
the body, and no great hurt in that to a child of God,
if they do not provoke the enemies within, our own
irregular passions, which, if they be not kept under,
plunge us in the evil of sin. An invasion from
abroad does not so much disturb the peace of a king-
dom as an insurrection at home ; and therefore it
concerns us to double our guard where our danger
ARGUMENTS FOR MEEKNBSS. 133
is greatest ; and above all keepings, to keep our
hearts, that no passion be allowed to stir, without a
good reason to be given for it, and a good use to be
made of it ; and then if we be troubled on every side,
yet not distressed ; perplexed, yet not in despair; 2
Cor. 4 : 8, 9 ; offended by our fellow-servants, but
not offending our Master ; reproached by our neigh-
bors, but not by our own consciences ; this is like
Zion's peace, peace within the walls. We have need
to pray as one did — Lord, deliver me from that ill
man, mine own self, and then I am safe enough.
The lusts that " war in our members," are the ene-
mies that " war against the soul." If tbis war be
brought to a good issue, and those enemies suppress-
ed, whatever other disturbances are given, peace is
in the soul, with grace and mercy from God, and
from the Lord Jesus. Nehemiah was aware of this,
as the design of his enemies, when they hired a pre-
tended prophet to give an alarm, and to advise him
meanly to shift for himself; it was, says he, "that
I should be afraid and do so, and sin." Whatever
we lose, we shall not lose our peace, if we do but keep
our integrity ; therefore, instead of being solicitous to
subdue our enemies that lay siege to us, let us double
our watch against the traitors within the garrison,
from whom, especially, our danger is : since we can-
not prevent the shooting of the fiery darts, let us have
our shield ready, wherewith to quench them. If we
would not hurt ourselves, blessed be God, no enemy
H. M. 12
134 HENRY ON MC£KN£8S«
in the world can hurt us. Let us but keep the peace
within, by the governing of our own passions, and
then, whatever assaults may be made upon us, we
may therein, with the daughter of Zion, despise them,
and laugh them to scorn, and shake our head at
them. Isa. 37 : 22. Let us believe that in times of
agitation and alarm our strength is to sit still, in a
holy quietness and composure of mind : " This is
the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to
rest ; and this is the refreshing ;" and it is enough.
2. In many things wt all offend. This truth we
have, Jajn. 3:2, as a reason why we must not be
many masters. It would help to subdue and mode-
rate our anger at the offences of others, if Ave con-
sidered,
( L) That it is incident to human nature to offend.
While we are in this world, we must not expect to
converse with angels, or the spirits of just men made
perfect ; no, we are obliged to have a communication
with creatures that are foolish and corrupt, peevish
and provoking, and who are all subject to like pas-
sions : such as these we must live among, else must
we needs go out of the world. And have we not
reason then to count upon something or other un-
easy and displeasing in all relations and conditions ?
The best men have their defects in this imperfect
state; those who are savingly enlightened, yet know-
ing but in part, have their blind side ; the harmony,
even of the communion of saints, will sometimes be
ARGUMENTS FOR MEEKNESS. 185
disturbed with jarring strings ; why then should we
be surprised into passion and disquiet, when that
which gives us the disturbance is no more than
what we looked for ? Instead of being angry, we
should think with ourselves thus : Alas ! what could
I expect but provocation from corrupt and fallen
man ? Among such foolish creatures as we are, it
must needs be that offences will come, and why
should not I have my share of them? The God of
heaven gives this as a reason of his patience towards
a provoking world, that it is in their nature to be
provoking : " I. will not again curse the ground any
more for man's sake, for the imagination of man's
heart is evil from his youth," and therefore better is
not to be expected from him. And upon this account
he had compassion on Israel. Ps. 78 : 39. " He re-
membered that they were but flesh ;" not only frail
creatures, but sinful, and bent to backslide. Do men
gather grapes of thorns ? " I knew that thou wouldst
deal treacherously, for thou wast called a trans-
gressor from the womb." And should not we, much
more, be governed by the same consideration? "If
thou seest the violent perverting of judgment and
justice in a province," remember what a provoking
creature smful man is, and then thou wilt not marvel
at the matter. The consideration of the common in-
firmity and corruption of mankind should be made
use of, not to excuse our own faults to ourselves,
which does but take off the edge of our repentance,
136 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
and is the poor subterfuge of a deceived heart ; but
to excuse the faults of others, and so take offthe edge
of bur passion and displeasure, and preserve the
meekness and quietness of our own spirits.
(2.) It is incident to ourselves among the rest to
offend. The apostle puts himself into the number — 1
We all offend. We offend God; if we say we do *
not, we deceive ourselves ; and yet he bears with us
from day to day, and is not extreme to mark what
we do amiss. Our debts to him are talents, our
brethren's to us but pence. Think then, if God
should be as angry with me for every provocation,
as I am with those about me, what would become of
me ? They are careless in their observance, and per-
haps willful in their offence, and am not I so to God ?
yea, am not I a thousand times worse? Job said,
when his servants were provoking, and he was
tempted to be harsh with them, " What then shall I
do when God riseth up ? and when he visiteth, what
shall 1 answer him ?"
And are we not apt enough likewise to offend our
brethren? Either we have offended, or may offend;
so that we have need that others should bear with us,
and why should we not bear with them ? Our rule
is. What we would that men should do to us when
we offend them, the same we should do to them when
they offend us ; for this is the law and the prophets.
Matt. 7: 12. Solomon appeals to our consciences
therein : " For oftentimes also thine own heart (which
ARGUMENTS FOR MEEKNESS. 137
is instead of a thousand witnesses) knoweth that thou
thyself likewise hast cursed others." The penitent
remembrance of former guilt would greatly help to
curb the passionate resentment of present trouble.
When the undutiful, rebellious son, (in a story that
I once read,) dragged his father by the hair of the
head to the house door, it appeased the anger of the
old man to remember, that just so far he had dragged
his father ; and it seems to have silenced Adonibe-
zek, that he was now treated no otherwise than he
had treated others. Judges, 1 : 7.
3. Men are God's hand : so it is said, Ps. 17 : 14 ;
" From men which are thy hand, O Lord !" or rather
tools in thy hand ; which are *' thy sword." We
must abide by this principle, that whatever it is that
crosses us, or is displeasing to us at any time, God
has an overruling hand in it. David was governed
by this principle when he bore Shimei's spiteful re-
proaches with such invincible patience : " So let him
curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse
David." Let him alone, for the Lord hath bidden
him. This consideration will not only silence our
murmurings against God, the author, but all our
quarrelings with men, the instruments of our trouble
and vexation. Men's reproaches are God's rebukes ;
and whoever he be who affronts me, I must see, and
say, that therein my Father corrects me. This quiet-
ed the spirit of Job, in reference to the injuries of the
Chaldeans and Sabeans, though he dwelt as a king,
12*
138 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
in the army ; and his power and interest seem to
have been sustained when those intruders first mad?e
that inroad upon him, and so he could not but see
his help in the gate ; yet we find him not meditating
any revenge, but calming the disturbances of his own
soul with the consideration of God's sovereign dis-
posal, overlooking all the instruments of his trouble,
thoughts of which would but have mingled anger
(the more disquieting passion) with his sorrow ; this,
therefore, suffices to still the storm. " The Lord gave,
and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name
of the Lord." When his brethren stood aloof from
him, his kindred and his friends looked scornfully
upon him as an alien ; and instead of oil, poured
vinegar into his wounds, so that his eye continued
in this provocation ; yet even in that part of his
trouble he owns the hand of God: ''He hath put
my brethren far from me." It is a very quieting
truth, (the Lord help us to mix faith with it,} thai
every creature is that to us, and no more, that God
make^ it to be; and that while many seek the ru
ler's favor, and more perhaps fear the ruler's dis
pleasure, every man's judgment proceedeth from the
Lord. Would we but more closely observe, and
readily own the hand of God in that which disquiets
and provokes us, surely, though we regarded not
man, yet if we had any fear of God before our eyes,
that would reconcile us better to it, and suppress all
intemperate and undue resentments. In murmuring
ARGUMENTS FOR MEEKNESS. 139
at the stone, we reflect upon the hand that throws
it and lay ourselves under the wo pronounced
against him that strives with his Maker. We know
it is interpreted, a taking up arms against the king,
if we take up arms against any that are commis-
sioned by him.
4. There is no provocation given us at any time,
but, if it be skillfully and graciously improved, good
may be gotten by it. If we have but that wisdom
of the prudent, which is to understand his way, and
all the advantages and opportunities of it, doubtlestj"
we may, quite contrary to the intention of those who
trespass against us, gain some spiritual, that is, some
real benefit to our souls, by the injuries and offen-
ces that are done to us : for even these are made to
work together for good to them that love God. This
is a holy and a happy way of opposing our adver-
saries, and resisting evil. It is an ill weed indeed
out of which the spiritual bee cannot extract some-
thing profitable, and for its purpose. Whatever lion
roars against us, let us but go on in the strength
and spirit of the Lord, as Samson did, and we
may not only rend it as a kid, so that it shall do us
QO real harm, but we may withal get meat out of the
cater, and sweetness out of the strong. As it turns
to the unspeakable prejudice of many, that they look
upon reproofs as reproaches, and treat them accord-
ingly with anger and displeasure ; so it would turn
to our unspeakable advantage if we could but learn
140 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
to call reproaches reproofs^, and make use of them as
such for our conviction and humiliation — and thus
the reproach of Christ may become true riches to
us, greater than the treasures of Egypt.
We are told of an imposthume that was cured
with the thrust of an enemy's sword ; and of one
that was happily converted from drunkenness by
being called, in reproach, " a tippler." It is very
possible that we may be enlightened, or humbled,
or reformed; may be brought nearer to God, or
weaned from the world ; may be furnished with mat-
ter for repentance, or prayer, or praise, by the inju-
ries that are done us, and may be much furthered in
our way to heaven by that which was intended for
an affront or provocation. This principle would put
another aspect upon injuries and unkindness, and
would quite change their character, and teach us to
call them by another name ; whatever the subordi-
nate instrument intended, God designed it, as our
other afflictions, to yield the peaceable fruit of righte-
ousness ; so that, instead of being angry at the man
that meant us ill, we should rather be thankful to
the God that intended us good, and study to answer
his intention. This kept Joseph in good temper to-
wards his brethren, though he had occasion enough
to quarrel with them: "You thought evil against
me, but God meant it unto goo^." This satisfied
Paul — in reference to the thorn in the flesh, that is,
the calamities and oppositions of the false apostles,
ARGUMENTS FOR MEEKNESS. ill
which touched hi->n more sensibly than all the efforts
of persecuting rage — that it was intended to hide
pride from him, lest he should be " exalted above
measure with the abundance of revelations ;" and
there seems to be an instance of the good effect it
iirad upon him immediately upon the mention of it,
for within a few lines after he lets fall that humble
word, " I am nothing." We should be apt to think
too highly of ourselves, and too kindly of the world,
if we did not meet with some injuries and contempt,
by which we are taught to cease from man. Did
we but more carefully study the improvement of
an injury^ we should no; be so apt to desire to re-
venge it.
5. What is said and done in haste, is likely to he
matter for deliberate repentance. "Vve find David
often remembering with regret what he said in
haste, particularly one angry word he had said in
the day of his distress and trouble, which seemed to
reflect upon Samuel, and indeed upon all that had
given him any encouragement to hope for the king-
dom ; " I said in my haste. All men are liars ;" and
this hasty word was a grief to him long after. " He
that hasteth with his feet sinneth." When a man is
transported by passion into any impropriety, we
coriinonly qualify it with this, "that he is a little
hasty," as if there were no harm in that ; but we see
there is harm in it ; he that is in haste may contract
much guilt in a little thne. What we say or do un-
142 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
advisedly when we are hot, we must unsay or undo
again when we are cool, or do worse. Now, who
would willfully do that which, sooner or later, he
must repent of? A heathen that was tempted to
a chargeable sin, could resist the temptation with
this consideration, " that he would not buy repent-
ance so dear." Is repentance such a pleasant work
that we should so industriously " treasure up unto
ourselves wrath against the day of Avrath,'' either the
day of God's w^rath against us, or our own against
ourselves I You little think what a torrent of self-
affliction you let in, when you let the reins loose to
an immoderate ungoverned passion. You are angry
at others, and reproach them, and are ready to abhor
them, and to revenge yourselves upon them, and
your corrupt nature takes a strange kind of pleas-
ure in this. But do you know that all this will at
last rebound upon yourselves, and return into your
own bosom ? Either here or in a worse place you
must repent of all this ; that is, you must turn all
these passions upon yourselves ; you must be angry
at yourselves, and reproach yourselves, and call
yourselves fools, and abhor yourselves, and smite
upon your own breasts ; nay, and if God give you
grace, take a holy revenge upon yourselves, (which
is reckoned among the products of godly sorrow, 2
Cor. 7 : 11;) and what can be more uneasy than all
this ? You take great liberty in chiding those that
you have under your power, and uttering perhaps
ARQt7M£NTS FOR MBEKNESS. 143
cibusive language, because you know they dare not
chide you again ; but dare not your own hearts smite
you, and your consciences chide you ? And is it not
easier to bear the chidings of any man in the world
(which may either be avoided, or answered, or
slighted) than to bear the reproaches of our own
consciences, which, as we cannot avoid hearing, so
we cannot trifle with ; for when conscience is awake,
it will be heard, and will tell us home, wherein '* we
are very guilty concerning our brother." Let this
thought, therefore, quiet our spirits when they be-
gin to be tumultuous, that hereby we shall but make
work for repentance ; whereas, on the contrary, as
Abigail suggested to David, the bearing and forgiv-
ing of an injury will be no trouble or grief of mind
afterwards. Let wisdom and grace therefore do what
time will do ; that is, cool our heat, and take off the
edge of our resentment.
6. That is truly best for us which is most pleas-
ing and acc^ptabh to God, and a meek and quiet
spirit is so. No principle has such a commanding
influence upon the soul as that which has a regard
to God, and wherein we approve ourselves to him.
It was a good hint which the woman of Tekoah
gave to David, when she was suing for a merciful
sentence: " I pray thee, let the king remember the
Lord thy God ;" nor could any thought be more ap-
peasing than that. Remember how gracious, and
merciful, and patient God is ; how slow to anger,
144 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
how ready to forgiye, and how well pleased he is to
see his people like him: remember the eye of thy
God upon thee, the love of thy God towards thee,
and the glory of thy God set before thee. Remember
how much it is thy concern to be accepted of God,
and to walk worthy of thy relation to him, unto all
well-pleasing ; and how much meekness and quiet-
ness of spirit contributes to this, as it is consonant to
that excellent religion which our Lord Jesus has
established, and as it renders the heart a fit habita-
tion for the blessed Spirit : " this is good and accept-
able in the sight of God our Savior," to lead a " quiet
and peaceable life." It is a good evidence of our re-
conciliation to God, if we be cordially reconciled to
every trying providence, which necessarily includes
a meek behavior towards those who are any way in-
strumental in it. Very excellently does St. Austin re-
mark on Psalm 122 : Those please God who are
pleased with him, and with all he does, whether im-
mediately by his own hand, or mediately by the
agency of provoking, injurious men. This is stand-
ing complete in all the will of God, not only his com-
manding, but his disposing will, saying without re-
luctance, The will of the Lord be done. He that
acts from an honest principle of respect to God, and
sincerely desires to be accepted of him, cannot but
be in some measure adorned with that meek and
quiet spirit which he knows to be in the sight of
God of great price.
RULi:s OF DIRECTION. 145
Such as these are soilening principles, and as
many as walk according to these rules, peace shall
be upon them, and mercy, and no doubt it shall be
upon the Israel of God.
CHAPTER VIII.
^OME RULES OF DIKKCTIOX.
The laws of our iioly religion are so fur from
clashing and interfering, that one Christian duty
very much furthers and promotes another. The fruits
of the Spirit are like links in a chain, one draws on
another ; and it is so in this ; many other graces con-
tribute to the ornament of a meek and quiet spirh.
You see how desirable the attainment is, will you .
therefore, through desire, separate your si4ves to the
pursuit of it, and '* seek and intermeddle with all
wisdom," and all little enougii, that you may roach
to the meekness of wisdom.
I. Withdraio your affections from this worUl^
and every thing in it. The more the world is cru-
cified to us, the more our corrupt passions will be
crucified in us. If we would keep calm and quiet,
we must by faith live above the stormy region. It
13
146 ilENfeV UN' ME1:KNKSS.
is certain, those that Have any thing to do in the
Avorld) cannot but meet with that every day, from
those Avith whom they deal, which will cross and
provoke them; and if the affections be set upon
these things, and we be filled with a prevailing
concern, about them as the principal things, those
crosses must needs pierce to the quick and inflame
the soul, and that which touches us in these things,
touches us in the apple of our eye. If the appetites
be indulged inordinately in things that are pleasing
to sense, the passions will to the very same degree
be roused against those that are displeasing. And
therefore. Christians, whatever you have of the world
in your hands, be it more or less, as you value the
peace as well as the purity of your souls, keep it out
of your hearts ; and evermore indulge your affections
towards your possessions, enjoyments, and delights
in the world, with a due consideration of the disap-
pointment and provocation which they will probably
occasion you.
It is th^ excellent advice of Epictetus, whatever
we tak^ a plmsure in, to consider its nature, and to
proportion otir complacency accordingly. Those
that idolize any thing in this world, will be greatly
discomposed if they be crossed in it. " The money
which Micah's mother had," says bishop Hall, " was
her god before it had the shape either of a graven
or a moken image, else the loss of it would not have
set her k cursings as iteeem* it did." Those that are
, , , . .. I??TVB11SITT
*' greedy oi gain, troTOle ^leir own hearts as well
as their own houses, ^fc^y are a burden to them-
selves, and a terror to all about them. ** They who
will be rich," who are resolved upon it, come what
will, cannot but fall into these " foolish and hurtful
lusts." And those also who serve their own bellies,
who are pleased with nothing unless it be wound up
to the height of pleasure, who are like the " tender
and delicate woman, that would not set so much as
the sole of her foot to the ground for tc;nderness and
delicacy," lie very open to that which is disquieting,
and cannot, without ? great disturbance to them-
selves, bear a disappointment ; and therefore Plu-
tarch, a great moralist, prescribes it for the preser-
vation of our meekness, " not to be curious in diet, or
clothes, or attendance ; for," says he, " they who
need but few things, are not liable to anger, if they
be disappointed of many."
Would we but learn in these things to cross our-
selves, we should not be so apt to take it unkind if
another crosses us. And therefore the method of
the lessons in Christ's school is, first to '* deny our-
selves," and then to "take up our cross." We must
also mortify the desire of the applause of men, as al-
together inconsistent with our true happiness. If
we have learnt not to value ourselves by their good
word, we shall not much disturb ourselves for their
ill word. St. Paul bore reproaches with mucli
meekness, because he did not build upon the opi-
118 HKXRV ON MEEKNESS.
riiori of man, reckoninof it *' a small thing to be judg-
ed of man's judgment."
2. Be often repenting of v our sinful passio?is, and
reiuicrng yovr corcnanh against it. If our rash
anger were more bitter to ns in the reflection after-
wards, we .^should not be so apt to relapse into it.
Repentance in general, if it be sound and deep, and
grounded in true contrition and humiliation, dis-
])oses the soul to bear injuries Avith abundance oi
patience. Those who live a life of repentance (as
we have every one of us reason to do) cannot but
live a quiet life, for nobody can lightly say worse
of the true penitent than he says of himself Call
him a fool, (an affront which many think deserve:
a challenge,) the humble soul can bear it patiently
•with this thought, " Yea, a fool I am," and I have
called myself so many a time ; " more brutish than
any man ; I have not the understanding of a man."
But repentance in a special manner disposes us to
meekness, when it fastens upon any irregular inor-
dinate passion with which we have been transport-
ed. Godly sorrow for our former transgressions in
this matter, will work a carefulness in us not again
to transgress. If others be causelessly or excessive-
ly angry with me, am not I justly requited for the
like or more indecent passions ? Charge it home,
therefore, with sorrow and shame upon your con-
sciences, aggravating the sin, and lajnng a load upon
yourselves for it, and you will find that " the burnt
RULES OF DIRECTIOX. 149
child," especially while the burn is smarting, •' will
dread the fire." See Job, 42 : 6.
With our repentance for our former unquietness,
we must engage ourselves by a firm resolution, in
the strength of the grace of Jesus Christ, to be more
mild and gentle for the future. Say you will " take
heed to your ways," that you offend not, as you
have done, " with your tongue ;" and, like David, be
often remembering that you said so. Resolution
would do much towards the conquering of the most
rugged nature, and the quiet bearing of the gireatest
provocation* it would be like the bit and bridle to
the horse and mule, that have no understanding.
It may be of good use every morning to renew a
charge upon our affections to keep the peace, and
having welcomed Christ in faith and meditation, let
no rude unruly passion stir up or awake our love.
3. Ktej) Old ^f the w^y ef jrrxivocation, and stand
upon your guard against it. While w^e are so very
apt to offend in this matter, we have need to pray,
and to practice accordingly, "Lord, lead us not
into temptation," Those are enemies to themselves
and to their own peace, as well as to human society,
who seek occasion of quarrel, who fish for provoca-
tions and dig up mischief; but meek and quiet peo-
ple will, on the contrary, studiously avoid even that
which is justly provoking, and will see it as if they
saw it not. Those that would not be angry must
wink at that which would stir wp finger, or piU a fa*
13*
loO HENRY ON MEEKNESS,
vorable consiruclion upon it. The advice of the
wise man is very good to the purpose : "Also take
no heed to all words that are spoken, lest thou hear
thy servant curse thee ;" and it is better for thee not
to hear it, unless thou canst hear it patientl}^ and
not be provoked to sin. It is a common story oi
Cotys, that, being presented with a cupboard of cu-
rious glasses, he returned his thanks to his friend
that had sent them, and gratified the messenger that
brought them, and then deliberately broke them all,
lest, by the casual breaking of them severally, he
should be provoked to passion. And Dion relates
it, to the honor of Julius Caesar, that Pompey's ca-
binet of letters coming to his hand, he Avould not
read them because he was his enemy, and he would
be likely to find in them that which would increase
the quarrel ; " and therefore," as Dr. Reynolds eX'
presses it, "he chose rather to make a fire on his
hearth than in his heart."
But seeing "briers and thorns are with us," and
Ave " dwell among scorpions," and " it must needs
be that offences come," let us be so much the more
careful, as we are when we go with a candle among
powder, and exercise ourselves to have consciences
void of offence, nor apt to offend others, nor to re*
sent the offences of others. When we are at any
time engaged in business or company where we
foresee provocation, we must double our watch, and
be more than ordinarily circumspect. " I will keep
RITLES OF DIRECTION. 151
my mouth with a bridle," (says David,) that is, with
a particular actual care and diligence while the
wicked is before me, and frequent acts will confirm
the good disposition and bring it to a habit. Plu-
tarch advises "to set some time to ourselves for
special strictness; so many days or weeks, in which,
whatever provocations do occur, we will not suffer
ourselves to be disturbed hy them." And thus he
supposes, by degrees, the habit of vicious anger may
be conquered and subdued. But, after all, the grace
of faith has the surest influence upon the establish-
ment and quietness of the spirit : faith establishes
the mercy of God, the meekness of Christ, the love
of the Spirit, the commands of the word, the prom-
ises of the covenant, and the peace and quietness of
the upper world ; this is the approved shield, with
Avhich we may be able to quench all the fiery darts
of the wicked one, and all his wicked instruments.
4. Learn to jmuse. It is a good rule, as in our
communion with God, so in our converse with men,
*' Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart
be hasty to utter any thing." When at any time we
are provoked, delays may be as advantageous as in
other cases they are dangerous. *' The discretion
of a man deferreth his anger." " I would beat thee,"
said Socrates to his servant, •' if I were not angry;"
but "he that is hast}" of spirit," that joins in with his
anger upon the first rise of it, "exalteth folly." The
office of reason is to govern the passions, but then
152 HEXRY ON MEEKNESS.
we must give time to act, and not suffer the tongue
to overrun it. Some have advised, when Ave are
provoked to anger, to take at least so much time to
deliberate as while we repeat the alphabet; and
others have thought it more proper to repeat the
Lord's Prayer, and perhaps by the time we are pai5t
the fifth petition, " forgive us our trespasses, as we
forgive them that trespass against us," w^e may be
reduced into temper. It is a good rule, '* to think
twice before we speak once ;" for he that hasteth
with his feet sinneth. It was the noted saying of a
great statesman in queen Elizabeth's court, " Take
time, and we shall have done the sooner." Nor can
there be any thing lost by deferring our anger ; for
there is nothing said or done in our wrath, but it
might be better said and better done in meekness.
5. Pray to God hy his Spirit to work in you this
e.xcdlerU grace of meekness and quietness of spirit.
It is a part of that comeliness which he puts upon
the soul, and he must be sought unto for it. If any
man lack this meekness of v^^isdom, let him ask it
of God, who gives liberally, and does not upbraid
us with our folly. When we begin at any time to
be froward and unquiet, w^e must lift a prayer to
Him who stills the noise of the sea, for that grace
Avhich establishes the heart. When David's heart
was hot within him, the first word that broke out
w^as a prayer. Psalm 39 : 3, 4. When we are sur-
prised wMth a provocation, and begin to be in a fer-
RULES OF DIRECTION. 153
ment upon it, it will not only be a present diversion,
but a sovereign cure to lift up an ejaculation to God
for grace and strength to resist and overcome the
temptation : " Lord, keep me quiet now !" Let your
requests in this matter be made known to God ; and
" the peace of God shall keep your hearts and
minds." You are ready enough to complain of un-
quiet people about you; but you have more reason
to complain of unquiet passions within you; the
other are but thorns in the hedge, these are thorns
in the flesh, against w^hich, if you beseech the Lord,
as Paul did, with faith, and fervency, and constancy,
you shall receive grace sufficient.
6. Be often examinmg your growth and profi-
ciency in this grace. Inquire what command you
have gained over your passions, and what improve-
ments you have made in meekness. Provocations
recur every day, such as have been wont perhaps to
throw you into a passion ; these give you an oppor-
tunity to make the trial. Do you And that you are
less subject to anger ; and when angry, that you are
less transported by it than formerly ; that your ap-
prehension of injuries is less quick, and that your
resentments are less keen than usual ? Is the little
kingdom of your mind more quiet than it has been,
and the discontented party weakened and kept under?
It is well if it be so, and a good sign that the soul
prospers and is in health. We should examine every
night whether we have been quiet all day. We shall
154 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
sleep the better if we find we have. Let conscience
keep up a grand inquest in the soul, under a charge
from the Judge of heaven and earth to inquire, and
due presentment make, of all riots, routs, and breach-
es of the peace within us ; and let nothing be left
unpresented for favor, affection, or self-love ; nor let
any thing presented be left unprosecuted according
to law. Those whose natural temper, or their age,
or diseases, lead them to be hasty, have an opportu-
nity, by their meekness and gentleness, to discover
both the truth and strength of grace in general ; for
it is the surest mark of uprightness, to " keep our-
selves from our own iniquity." And yet, if the
children of God bring forth these fruits of the spi-
rit in old age, when commonly men are most fro-
ward and peevish, it shows not only that they are
upright, but rather that " the Lord is upright," in
whose strength they stand; that "he is their rock,
and there is no unrighteousness in him."
7. Delight in the company of meek and quiet per-
sons. Solomon prescribes it as a preservative against
foolish passion, to "make no friendship with an an-
gry man lest thou learn his w^ays." When thy
neighbor's house is on fire, it is time to look to thy
own. But man is a sociable creature, and made for
converse; let us therefore, since we must have some
company, choose to have fellowship with those who
are meek and quiei, that we may learn their way,
for it is a good way. The wolf is no companion for
RULES OF DIRECTIOJr.. 155
the lamb, nor the leopard for the kid, till they have
forgot to *' hurt and destroy." Company is assimi-
lating-, and we are apt insensibly to grow like those
with whom we ordinarily converse, especially with
whom we delight to converse ; therefore let the quiet
in the land be the men of our choice, especially into
standing relations and bosom friendship. Observe
in others how sweet and amiable meekness is, and
what a heaven upon earth those enjoy who have the
command of their own passions, and study to tran-
scribe such copies. There are those who take a
pleasure in riotous company, and are never well but
when they are in the midst of noise and clamor.
Surely heaven would not be heaven to such, for that
is a calm and quiet region : no noise there but what
is sweet and harmonious.
8. Sindy the cross of our Lord Jesus. Did we
but know more of Jesus Christ and him crucified,
we should experience more of the fellowship of his
sufferings. Think often how and in what manner
he suffered : see him led as a lamb to the slaughter,
and arm yourselves with the same mind. Think
also why and for what end he suffered, that you may
not in any thing contradict the design of your dying
Savior, nor receive his grace in vain. Christ died
as the great peace-maker, to take down all partition-
walls, to quench all threatening flames, and to re-
concile his followers, not only to God, but one to
another, by the slaying of all enmities. Eph. 2 ;
14, 16. The apostle often prescribes a believing re-
156 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
gard to the sufferings of Christ as a powerful allay
to all sinful and intemperate heats, as Eph. 5 ; 2 ;
Phil. 2 : 5, &c. Those who would show forth tho
meek and humble life of Christ in their mortal bo-
dies, must bear about with them continually " the
(lying of the Lord Jesus." The ordinance of the
Lord's Supper, in which we show forth the Lord's
death, and the new testament in his blood, must
therefore be improved by us for this blessed end, as
a love-feast, at which all our sinful passions must be
laid aside; and a marriage-feast, where the ornament
of a meek and quiet spirit is a considerable part of
the wedding-garment. The forgiving of injuries, and
a reconciliation to our brother, is both a necessary
branch of our preparation for that ordinance, and a
good evidence and instance of our profiting by it.
9. Converse much in your thoughts toith the dark
and silent grave. You meet Avith many things now
that disturb and disquiet you, and much ado yon
have to bear them : think how quiet death Avill make
you, and how incapable of resenting or resisting
injuries, and what an easy prey this fiesli, for which
you are so jealous, will shortly be to the worm that
shall feed sweetly on it. You will, ere long, be out
of the reach of provocation, " where the >vicked
cease from troubling," and where their envy and
their hatred is for ever perished. And is not a quiet
spirit the best preparative for that quiet state ? Think
how all these things, which now disquiet us, will
appear when we come to look death in the face ;
RULES OF Dli.ECTIOX. 157
how small and inconsiderable they seem to one that
is stepping" into eternity. Think, " what need is
there that I should so resent an affront or injury,
that am but a worm to-day, and may be the food of
worms to-morrow?"
A liitle sprinkling of the dust of the grave, upon
the brink of which we stand, would do much toward.^
quieting our spirits and ending our quarrels. Death
will quiet us shortly : jet grace quiet us now. When
David's heart was hot within him, he prayed, " Lord,
make me to know my end."
To conclude — I know no errand that I can come
upon of this kind to you, in which methinks I should
be more likely to prevail than in this ; so much does
meekness conduce to the comfort and repose of our
oion souls, and the making of our lives sweet and
pleasant. If thou be wise herein, thou shalt be wise
for thyself. That which I have been so intent upon
in this discourse, is only to persuade you not to be
your own tormentors, but to govern your own pas-
sions so that they may not be furies to yourselves.
The ornament I have been recommending to you is
confessedly excellent and lovely ; will you put it
on and wear it, that by this all men may know that
you are Christ's disciples, and you may be found
among the sheep on the right hand, at the great
day, when Christ's angels shall gather out of his
kingdom every thing that offends ? Every one will
give meekness a good word ; but in this, as in
H. M. 14
158 HENRY ON MEEKNESS.
Other instances, honesty is applauded, yet neglected.
Love is commended by all, and yet the love of
many waxeth cold ; but let all that would not be self-
condemned practice what they praise. And as there
ii; nothing in which I should more expect to prevail,
so there is nothing in which it will easier appear
whether I have prevailed or no ; this tree will soon
be known by its fruits ; so many are the circum-
stances of almost every day A^hich call for the exer-
cise of this grace, that our profiting therein will
quickly appear to ourselves, and to all with whom
we converse. Our meekness and quietness is more
obvious, and falls more directly under a trial and ob-
servation than our love to God and our faith in
Christ, and other graces, the exercise whereof lies
more immediately between God and our own souls,
Shall we therefore set ourselves to manifest, in all
our converse, that we have indeed received good by
this plain discourse ? that our relations and neigh-
bors, and all that we have dealings with, may ob-
serve a change in us for the better, and may take
knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus.
And let not the impressions of it ever wear off, but,
^living and dying, let us be found among the quiet in
the land : we all wish to see quiet families, and quiet
churches, and quiet neighborhoods, and quiet na-
tions ; and it will be so if there be quiet hearts, and
not otherwise.
THE END.
14 DAY USE
««™N TO DKK PROM WHICH BORKOWBD
lOAN DEPT.
■^M^v^
/%
'-muiz4w-J
iJ^'ner-im-
^BCO
1-^-^^^2^-^SL^Af^
U !
I S:;4ct'l^
J
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
r: